Ryan Quarles

In October 2009, Quarles announced that he would run for the Kentucky House of Representatives for the 62nd House District. At the time the District was represented by State Representative Charlie Hoffman (D-Scott). In May 2010, Quarles won a contested Republican primary election with 60% of the vote to be the Republican candidate from the 62nd Representative District in the Kentucky House of Representatives race.[4]

On October 2, 2010, Quarles was arrested in Lexington, Kentucky for reckless driving. "A police report said Ryan Quarles, 26, was arrested near North Mill and West Short streets in Lexington about 3:10 a.m. Saturday. Quarles was driving a black Jeep Cherokee 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."[5] Quarles pleaded guilty and paid a fine after the charge was lowered to careless driving.[6]

In November 2010, Quarles received 8,508 votes (51%) to Charlie Hoffman's 8,287 (49%). In 2011, Quarles was appointed to the Kentucky House of Representatives committees on Agriculture & Small Business, Banking & Insurance, and Education.[7]

Ryan Quarles ran for a second term to the Kentucky State House of Representatives in the 2012 election. In this race, Quarles faced a familiar opponent – former State Representative Charlie Hoffman whom he had defeated two years earlier – who filed to get his old seat back in a rematch as the Democratic nominee. Quarles easily defeated Hoffman in this contest, winning 54% to 46%.

Ryan Quarles ran for his third term of office in the Kentucky State House of Representatives in the 2014 election. In this election, Quarles was running in a district redrawn by the Democratic-controlled House of Representative and drawn to be more Democratic, drawing in significant territory which had previously not been part of the district. He was made a top target of the Democrats for defeat of a Republican incumbent and his opponent, Charles Tackett, was a Scott County Magistrate who ran at the request of Democratic Governor Steve Beshear. The redrawn district and effort by the Democrats did not pan out as Quarles won by his largest margin of victory, 59% to 41%, over his opponent.

Quarles announced he would be a candidate for Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture, a statewide race, in the 2015 election. He won the Republican nomination against fellow State Representative Richard Heath. Quarles had been endorsed by the incumbent Commissioner of Agriculture, James Comer,[8] and defeated Jean-Marie Lawson Spann in the general election.

Quarles announced he would run statewide for a second term as Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner in 2019. He won the Republican primary in a landslide, defeating his primary opponent 82.21% to 17.79%. Quarles was the only Kentucky candidate with a primary challenger to win all of Kentucky's 120 counties.[9]