Quarles makes Corbin stop during 17-county campaign blitz

Ryan Quarles, Republican candidate for Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture, spoke to a group of supporters last week during a visit to The Dixie Café in downtown Corbin. The General Election will be held Nov. 3.

The Republican candidate for Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture made a final push for votes last week with a stop in Corbin at a popular downtown restaurant.

Ryan Quarles spoke to a crowd of supporters and curious onlookers at The Dixie Café last Friday. He is a three-term member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from Georgetown where his family has been farming since the 1790s.

“I like coming here because people here know the importance of having a viable agriculture economy, especially in rural Kentucky,” Quarles said during his visit.

“I have one simple message for you: We need a Commission of Agriculture who has a farming background,” he added. “It’s important we have somebody who understands how Frankfort works … who knows what it’s like to work on the farm and get their hands dirty.”

Quarles said he has four main priorities he’d like to focus on if elected: preserving and expanding the state’s “Kentucky Proud” branding campaign in order to highlight the state’s products at market, increasing farming education in the classroom, helping farmers in Kentucky benefit by helping them sell their products in emerging markets, and to fight what he considers regulatory overreach by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“It’s sad that Farm Bureau has identified the EPA as the biggest threat to agriculture in the U.S.,” Quarles said. “You shouldn’t have the federal government being our greatest threat to prosperity.”

Quarles said the race for Commissioner of Agriculture is largely a “word of mouth” race, since candidates don’t usually have large budgets with which to do much advertising.

“I believe we’ve got momentum at our back if people show up on Nov. 3,” he said.

Quarles won the Republican nomination for Commissioner of Agriculture during the May Primary Election with a narrow victory over fellow State Representative Richard Heath. He’s been endorsed by current Ag. Commissioner James Comer.

The stop in Corbin last week was one of several Quarles has made since announcing he intended to seek the position. It came at the end of a 17-county swing through the state over just a few tiring days.

Quarles is facing off against Democrat Jean-Marie Lawson Spann, a resident of Boone County and Vice-President of a marketing firm. She is also a radio host.