Republican James Comer has defeated Democrat Bob Farmer in the race for Kentucky agriculture commissioner.

With 53 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday, Comer had 263,632, or 61 percent of the vote, to Farmer's 169,018, or 39 percent.

Comer says he received a lot of support from Democrats who were attracted to his experience as a beef cattle farmer and state legislator. He spent a half-million dollars in the campaign's closing days on a statewide ad campaign against Farmer, a marketing specialist from Louisville.

One Comer ad featured an old Farmer stand-up comedy routine that poked fun at eastern Kentucky residents. The ad said Farmer "insults Kentuckians."

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