Jonathan Shell

Running for this seat

• Registered a campaign committee: Kentucky Registry of Election Finance, November 8, 2023
• Reported by news coverage: Kentucky Lantern, December 29, 2025

Not on the ballot yet: the official list comes from Kentucky Secretary of State. How we list candidates.

Background

Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture; farmer

Fifth-generation farmer who co-owns Shell Farms and Greenhouses in Garrard County. He holds a bachelor's degree in agriculture business from Eastern Kentucky University. He was elected to the Kentucky House in 2012 as its youngest member and in 2017 became the first Republican House majority floor leader. He was elected agriculture commissioner on November 7, 2023.

Holds this office now.

In their own words

• Agriculture built on "food, faith, and family"
• "Fight for farm families and our Kentucky values"
• Keep the Department of Agriculture a resource farmers "can count on"

From the candidate's own campaign materials.

Left–right placement

Moderately right, from the giving patterns of their campaign donors (DIME campaign-finance score, Stanford). Based on the 234 donors to their 2018 campaign for state House. DIME doesn't name donors: it places each one by everyone they give to, then places the candidate by their donors Source

Links

• Campaign site

Sources

• kyagr.com/ky-agnews/2024/Get-to-know-new-Kentucky-Ag-Commissioner-Jona
• nasda.org/nasda-member/shell/
• secure.kentucky.gov/kref/publicsearch/CandidateSearch?ElectionDate=5%2