Ryan Quarles’ first visit to Bowling Green after cancellation of campaign stop

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) - Ryan Quarles, Agriculture Commissioner and Republican candidate for Governor of Kentucky, delivered his final keynote speech at the 2023 Kentucky Commodity Conference.

This marks his first appearance in Bowling Green since his last visit was canceled.

His campaign stop with the Republican Women’s Club of South Central Kentucky was initially held at the Bowling Green Country Club. It was later canceled once the country club found out about one of the keynote speakers, Jonathan Mattingly.

Mattingly was the former Louisville Metropolitan Police Officer who was involved in the death of Breonna Taylor.

He was in attendance at the event promoting his book titled, “12 Seconds in the Dark: A Police Officer’s Firsthand Account of the Breonna Taylor Raid.”

Once the Bowling Green Country Club and Quarles’ campaign discovered this, the event was canceled due to public outcry.

“I was invited independently of other speakers and due to the controversial nature of another speaker at this event, we have decided to reschedule to a later date,” wrote Quarles in a written statement to the media.

Quarles said despite the Republican Women’s Club of South Central Kentucky hosting Mattingly, he hopes to reconnect with the organization along the campaign trail.

“We look forward to speaking with Republican women’s groups like we do almost every week across Kentucky,” said Quarles. “As one of 12 gubernatorial candidates, I feel like our campaign, like others, deserves the same sort of atmosphere, so we are going to come back. I am really gracious to the Republican Women of South Central Kentucky, and look forward to continuing our campaign.”

Quarles also mentioned that with the primaries inching closer, he and his campaign team feel confident they can carry on their race into November.

“I feel like in the rural counties, especially in Western Kentucky, the people I have gotten to know over the past eight years were very active and very visible across Kentucky,” said Quarles. “Whether it is from tornado response or flood response, I am just doing my job as AG Commissioner. I think that our campaign has a great shot at winning this and moving forward past the primary.”

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