Democrat Abigail Spanberger, who defeated Freedom Caucus stalwart Rep. Dave Brat in a central Virginia upset last November, will be the only first-term lawmaker to chair a House Agriculture subcommittee this session, announced committee chairman Collin Peterson on Thursday. Committee veterans will lead the other five subcommittees.
Spanberger will head the subcommittee on conservation and forestry. The other subcommittee chairs are Filemon Vela of Texas, on farm commodities; Marcia Fudge of Ohio, on nutrition; David Scott of Georgia, on energy and credit; Jim Costa of California, on livestock and foreign agriculture; and Stacey Plaskett of the Virgin Islands, on biotechnology and research. Peterson has said he will give subcommittee leaders wide latitude to dig into their areas of jurisdiction.
“I look forward to improving our nation’s conservation research efforts, strengthening our watersheds, and making sure our soil is healthy for the next generation of farmers,” said Spanberger in a statement.
A former CIA operative, Spanberger ran as a moderate last fall, attacking Brat as an ideologue out of touch with his district. Four years earlier, Brat upset House Majority Leader Eric Cantor with an insurgent campaign. “Spanberger supports a public option for health care, is against Medicare-for-all, opposes so-called sanctuary cities, and is very diligent about talking fiscal responsibility,” said Vox the day after the midterm elections. “She says Republicans rushed into unnecessary corporate tax cuts, but she doesn’t support repealing them.”