Ryan Quarles: Ag commissioner pitches himself as ‘uniter’ while other candidates attack
The Herald-Leader is profiling the major candidates for the GOP nomination for Kentucky governor. Read the other profiles at Kentucky.com.
Ryan Quarles is running a traditional campaign. So traditional, in fact, that it’s somewhat unique in its approach. Like some others, he’s putting forth policy proposals and getting on television advocating for himself. But unlike other top candidates, the two-term commissioner of agriculture has leaned uniquely on local political figures to help spread the word about his campaign.
His campaign touts well over 200 endorsements from local elected officials across Kentucky.
The campaign has stressed Quarles’ amount of experience, given his tenure in the legislature starting in 2011 and time in office as commissioner of agriculture from 2016 to now. It also brands him as the rural candidate, emphasizing his family farm roots in a recently aired introductory television ad.
Quarles insists that, since the election is currently projected to be low-turnout, he has a path to the nomination because of his agriculture base and his use of old-school campaign methods. The last publicly available poll placed him in third behind Attorney General Daniel Cameron and former ambassador Kelly Craft, though that was before he spent money on advertisements.
On the issues, the commissioner has not tied himself to as many nationally hot-button issues as some others, opting to focus instead on more local issues.
Ryan Quarles on the issues
Education: Quarles’ education platform, one that focuses on raising teacher pay — something the current GOP legislature has resisted so far — disciplinary reform and making changes to the state higher education system. “Do teachers need a raise? Yes they do, and I would support that. That’s something that Beshear has promised and he can’t deliver it because he has such a poor relationship with General Assembly,” Quarles said, adding that he supports school choice initiatives forwarded by many Republicans in the state legislature.
Reforming foster care and adoption: Quarles says the more than 8,000 Kentucky children currently in the state’s foster care system is too many, and wants to spur action on getting more kids into loving homes. Quarles proposes hiring more state social workers, reducing the amount of time that children spend “in limbo” in the system and engaging and challenging churches to support families wanting to adopt. He also recommends reorganizing the Department for Health and Family Services on the topic.
Louisville: Though Quarles has stressed his rural roots in campaign messaging, he has released a rough plan for how he would improve Louisville, Kentucky’s largest city. Quarles said levels of violent crime in the city are “unacceptable” and that “there was no serious effort of sustained cooperation between Andy Beshear and Louisville’s previous mayor to reduce violent crime.” He also wants to focus on getting homeless Louisvillians in shelters and infrastructure that supports the convention center there.
Abortion: Quarles supports the current ban on abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest. The only exception in the law, which is being challenged in court, is for the life of the mother. When pressed on this in a recent debate, Quarles said he was open to having “a conversation” on the law after the Kentucky Supreme Court rules on it.
LGBTQ issues, Quarles has given full support to the recently passed Senate Bill 150, an omnibus bill that restricts discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in schools; bans puberty blockers, hormones and surgeries for the purpose of gender transition; and prevents trans students from using the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity, among other things. However, he added that “there are bigger issues affecting Kentucky” than the ones tackled in that bill, and has not made LGBTQ issues a central part of his messaging.
Who is supporting Quarles:
Quarles’ campaign is all about the local government official endorsements, touting “more than 235” as of late.
Quarles has the most support from GOP state legislators of any candidate, including some in leadership. Senate Majority Whip Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green, has endorsed Quarles. Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown has donated to both Quarles and Craft, but has also posted photos to social media with Quarles campaign gear on.
The campaign has raised a total of $1.24 million, and had $458,000 left to spend 15 days out from May 16.
A PAC supporting Quarles was formed early in the race, but it didn’t get a surge of funding until late April, well after PACs supporting Cameron and Craft were already funded and running ads. It has roughly $45,000, a relatively small sum compared to the million-plus raised by the PACs supporting Cameron and Craft.
What his opponents say:
Quarles has used his long experience in politics as a selling point on the campaign trail.
But some opponents have asked why more hasn’t changed under Quarles’ tenure.
“Commissioner Quarles talks a lot about ‘24 years of Beshear leadership and they’re asking for four more.’ Ryan was in the legislature for four of those years and he’s been statewide for eight. Hell, you don’t have to be governor to lead,” Keck said.
Northern Kentucky candidate Eric Deters also called Quarles’ delivery “robotic” during a recent debate.
Why he says he’s the best choice to take on Beshear:
Part of Quarles’ argument for the primary is that he believes he’s the most likely of all the candidates to beat Beshear in the Fall.
While groups supporting Cameron and Craft have tried to bring each other down, Quarles has not yet been the subject of negativity on the airwaves. He also points to his rural roots as more appealing to voters compared to Beshear, who’s the son of a former governor.
“I feel like I’m the uniter who’s not focused on partisan politics in this race. I have the best chance to beat Andy Beshear in the fall as the Republican nominee because I have a base. And once I become the nominee, there’s a lot of Kentuckians out there that will identify my background and my type of leadership,” Quarles said.
Quarles quick facts:
Name: Ryan Quarles
Age: 39
City of residence: Georgetown
Previous political/public experience: State representative, commissioner of agriculture
Professional experience: Farmer
Learn more: ryanquarles.com, Twitter: @RyanQuarlesKY, Facebook: facebook.com/KYRyanQuarles/, YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ryanquarles1797/videos
Quote: “I show up. I work hard. I’ve visited all 120 counties in this campaign. I’m the candidate that will roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty.”
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