All the candidates favor an optional buyout of production allotments, called quotas. All the major candidates oppose regulation of tobacco by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and much higher cigarette taxes. The candidates' experience with tobacco does differ. Rose, who is from Winchester, grew 38 acres last year. Two opponents, Lexington lawyer Jim Newberry and Madison County Attorney Bobby Russell, grew up on tobacco farms and own quotas.
Land is the only smoker in the field.
One Republican candidate in the 6th District, Lexington physician Ernest Fletcher, helped on a tobacco farm as a child. The other, sales manager Jay Whitehead of Lexington, has no tobacco background. In the Senate race, U.S. Rep. Scotty Baesler, a Lexington Democrat, is a large tobacco producer. His main opponents, Lt. Gov. Steve Henry and Louisville businessman Charlie Owen, both helped on tobacco farms as children. Rose and Baesler said that if experience counts with farmers, they should have the edge in their races.