FRANKFORT, Ky. — Former Kentucky State House majority leader Jonathan Shell formally filed to run for agriculture commissioner. 

What You Need To Know

  • Jonathan Shell has filed to be the next Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner

  • Shell was previously the Kentucky House of Representatives majority leader

  • In 2018, Shell started working for the Pegasus Institute 

Shell joined the Kentucky House of Representatives in 2013, representing District 71, which included Garrard, Rockcastle, and a portion of Madison Counties. He served as majority leader form 2017 until 2019 and was the youngest majority leader in state history.

Shell laid out his qualifications as a lifelong conservative Republican, saying in a statement, “I became a conservative riding in my grandad’s truck on our farm in Lancaster. Since then, I’ve lived our conservative Kentucky values, just like thousands of other farm families. I’m running to be Kentucky’s next Agriculture Commissioner to stand up for hardworking Kentuckians and to stop the radical elites who look down on our way of life.”

Shell refers to himself as a “proud conservative and will put his pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, pro-growth and pro-farmer values to work for Kentucky families in Frankfort.”

Shell graduated from Eastern Kentucky University with a BA in agricultural business.

Ryan Quarles is the current agriculture commissioner, and he is running for the Republican nomination for governor in 2023.

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