Ryan Quarles
Ryan Francis Quarles (born October 20, 1983) is an American Republican politician who has served as Agriculture Commissioner of Kentucky since 2016. He is president-elect of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. He served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 2011 to 2016.
Ryan Quarles | |
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Agriculture Commissioner of Kentucky | |
Assumed office January 4, 2016 | |
Governor | Matt Bevin Andy Beshear |
Preceded by | James Comer |
Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from the 62nd district | |
In office January 2, 2011 – January 4, 2016 | |
Preceded by | Charlie Hoffman |
Succeeded by | Chuck Tackett |
Personal details | |
Born | Ryan Francis Quarles October 20, 1983 Georgetown, Kentucky, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Education | University of Kentucky (BA, MS, MA, JD) Harvard University (MEd) Vanderbilt University (EdD) |
Early life and education
Quarles is a native of Georgetown, Kentucky. He attended Scott County High School and was the valedictorian of the class of 2002.[1] While working on the Quarles family farm, he was an undergraduate triple major (Agriculture Economics, Public Service & Leadership, and Political Science, B.S., '05) and earned masters in Agricultural Economics and in Diplomacy & International Relations ('06) from the nearby University of Kentucky. He graduated summa cum laude with honors.[2] Quarles received a Truman Scholarship, Udall Scholarship, and a scholarship from Toyota.[1] As a Zuckerman Fellow, he was awarded a full-ride scholarship to Harvard University (M.Ed., '09).[3] He also attended the University of Kentucky College of Law (J.D., '10).[4]
Republican Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher appointed Quarles to two consecutive terms as a student Council Member on the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education.
Political career
2010 election
Quarles ran in 2010 for the Kentucky House of Representatives for the 62nd District. He won a Republican primary with 60% of the vote.[5]
On October 2, 2010, Quarles was arrested in Lexington, Kentucky, for reckless driving. "A police report said Ryan Quarles, 26, was arrested ... about 3:10 a.m. Saturday. Quarles was driving ... through a parking lot, weaving through cars, the uniform citation said. The report said Quarles showed signs of intoxication and had a blood alcohol level of 0.067 when given a breath test. His blood alcohol level was below the legal limit of 0.08."[6] Quarles pleaded guilty in Fayette District Court, and paid a fine after the charge was lowered to careless driving.[7]
In November 2010, Quarles received 8,508 votes (51%) to incumbent State Representative Charlie Hoffman's 8,287 (49%), winning by 521 votes. In 2011, he was appointed to the House committees on Agriculture & Small Business, Banking & Insurance, and Education.[8]
2012 and 2014 elections
Quarles ran for a second term in 2012. He again defeated Hoffman, 54% to 46%.[9]
Quarles ran for a third term in 2014. He ran in a district redrawn by the Democratic-controlled House to be more Democratic, drawing in territory which had previously not been part of the district. He was made a top target of the Democrats and his opponent, Charles Tackett, was a Scott County Magistrate. He won by his largest margin of victory, 59% to 41%.[10]
2015 election
Quarles ran for Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture in 2015. He won the Republican nomination against fellow State Representative Richard Heath in a very close election, with 92,700 votes (50.39%), versus 91,273 votes (49.61%) for Heath. He had been endorsed by the incumbent Commissioner of Agriculture, James Comer,[11] and defeated Jean-Marie Lawson Spann in the general election.
2019 election and term
Quarles ran for a second term in 2019. He won the Republican primary with 82% of the vote (and was the only Kentucky candidate with a primary challenger to win all of Kentucky's 120 counties), and won the general election with 58% of the vote.[12]
In February 2022, he lost the case of Kentucky Hemp Association vs. Quarles, with Kentucky's Boone Circuit Court declaring Delta-8 to be a legal derivative of hemp, and issuing an injunction against Quarles and Kentucky law enforcement preventing them from taking any action against people for selling Delta-8.[13][14][15] The lawsuit against Quarles was prompted by the Agriculture Commission having issued an advisory opinion that Delta-8 hemp products were not exempted from the federal controlled substances list, which was followed by Kentucky State Police raiding several lawful hemp retail stores in Kentucky and taking a wide variety of hemp products, money, and cameras, and charging store employees with marijuana trafficking.[15]
In June 2022, the Kentucky Attorney General's Office, led by Daniel Cameron, concluded that the Kentucky Department of Agriculture violated Kentucky's open records law by failing to respond to a request for records related to any litigation involving Quarles, or involving the agriculture department during his tenure, that had been made by the Kentucky Democratic party.[16]
2023 gubernatorial campaign
In April 2022, Quarles began a run for the Republican 2023 nomination for Governor of Kentucky.[17] In the primary, he ran against a number of Kentucky Republicans, including former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft, state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, and state auditor Mike Harmon.[18] Quarles officially filed his candidacy on January 4, 2023.[19]
Quarles campaigned aggressively in rural areas of the state and earned 235 endorsements from local officials.[20] He lost the Republican primary to Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron.[21]
Electoral history
Kentucky House of Representatives 62nd District Republican Primary Election, 2010 | |||
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Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
Republican | Ryan Quarles | 2,081 | 59.99 |
Republican | Ricky Hostetler | 1,388 | 40.01 |
Kentucky House of Representatives 62nd District Election, 2010 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
Republican | Ryan Quarles | 8,508 | 50.66 |
Democratic | Charlie Hoffman | 8,287 | 49.34 |
Kentucky House of Representatives 62nd District Election, 2012 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
Republican | Ryan Quarles (inc.) | 12,408 | 54.03 |
Democratic | Charlie Hoffman | 10,557 | 45.97 |
Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Republican Primary Election, 2015 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
Republican | Ryan Quarles | 92,700 | 50.39 |
Republican | Richard Heath | 91,271 | 49.61 |
Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Election, 2015 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
Republican | Ryan Quarles | 563,013 | 60.08 |
Democratic | Jean-Marie Lawson Spann | 374,077 | 39.92 |
Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Republican Primary Election, 2019 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
Republican | Ryan Quarles | 193,994 | 82.21 |
Republican | Bill Polyniak | 41,971 | 17.79 |
Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Election, 2019 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
Republican | Ryan Quarles | 821,414 | 58.2 |
Democratic | Robert Haley Conway | 545,099 | 38.6 |
Libertarian | Joshua Gilpin | 44,596 | 3.2 |
References
- 2015 Kentucky General Assembly Directory, legislature.ky.gov, April 2015.
- "Student Named Truman Scholar". University of Kentucky Public Relations. 2005-03-29. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
- "Ryan Quarles biodata". Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
- Steve Beshear. "Kentucky: Council on Postsecondary Education – Ryan Quarles Biodata". Cpe.ky.gov. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
- "Kentucky State Board of Elections: 2010 Primary Election". clarityelections.com. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
- Hopkins, Shawntaye (October 5, 2010). "Georgetown candidate for state House arrested for reckless driving". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
- Hopkins, Shawntaye (October 16, 2010). "Candidate to pay fine in careless driving case". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
- "House District 62". Lrc.ky.gov. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
- Boggs, Jerry (November 8, 2012). "Thayer, Quarles head back to state legislature". Georgetown News-Graphic. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
- "Election Results/2010-2019" (PDF). March 2022.
- ""Announcement" – Ryan Quarles". YouTube. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
- "KY - Election Results". results.enr.clarityelections.com. Archived from the original on 2019-12-02.
- Charity Blanton (August 8, 2022). "Delta-8 declared legal in KY after much uncertainty". WPSD Local 6.
- "Order"; Kentucky Hemp Association v. Ryan Quarles, Commonwealth of Kentucky Boone Circuit Court (2022).
- Steve Rogers (July 15, 2021). "Hemp Association takes legal action after raids in Morehead, other places". WTVQ.
- "Records case leads to rare agreement among political rivals". Spectrum News. June 4, 2022.
- Schreiner, Bruce (April 30, 2022). "GOP's Quarles announces run for Kentucky governor in 2023". Associated Press. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
- "Kentucky Auditor Mike Harmon is running for governor". Louisville Courier Journal. July 12, 2021. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
- Schweinert, Lexi (January 4, 2023). "Ryan Quarles to officially file for governor race Thursday". WNKY. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
- Corasaniti, Nick (May 1, 2023). "A Hostile, Under-the-Radar Primary Splinters Republicans". The New York Times. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
- Schreiner, Bruce (May 16, 2023). "Trump-backed Daniel Cameron to face Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear in November". Associated Press. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
External links
- Campaign site
- Official site
- Will Yakowicz (August 11, 2022). "How Kentucky Lost Its War Against Delta-8 THC", Forbes.