KENTUCKY — Mario Anderson sits down with outgoing two-term Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles, R-Ky.
The Republican lawmaker was first elected by voters in Nov. 2015 to lead the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. He was re-elected to a second term in Nov. 2019 and before that, he served in the Kentucky House of Representatives for four years, representing the 62nd District in Scott County.
“I just feel blessed that for somebody that grew up in rural Kentucky, grew up on a farm, I had the opportunity to serve an agricultural family that I grew up in. And as I reflect on the last eight years, I feel like we were responsive to the needs of our agricultural leaders and producers whether it be stopping bad ideas in Washington, D.C. or promoting Kentucky Proud, to everyday Kentuckians also feel like we were responsive during tornadoes and floods and during COVID to keep agriculture open for business. But I think the biggest single accomplishment that we can look back on is that we moved the needle on food insecurity Kentucky with the Kentucky Hunger Initiative,” said Quarles.
Quarles was also a Republican primary candidate for governor of Kentucky in 2023 and during this segment he discusses his campaign and comments on the results of the Kentucky General Election race. “I enjoyed the process. I love Kentucky. I love policymaking and for me, I admire and respect anybody who has the courage to put their name on the ballot, whether it be for a school board or for governor of Kentucky. I enjoy traveling across all 120 counties, some of the only statewide law that visited all 120 counties this calendar year. I’ve done it six times while in office. And I just love getting on the back roads, talking to fellow Kentuckians, listening from them and as a candidate. I feel really blessed to have this opportunity in life and look, I didn’t win, and that’s okay. God had a different path for me. And I’m really happy right now, and I look forward to the next chapter,” added Quarles.
You can watch the full In Focus Kentucky segment in the player above.