Michelle Fischbach, a well-financed Republican and former Minnesota lieutenant governor endorsed by President Trump, soundly defeated House Agriculture chairman Collin Peterson in a strongly conservative western state district, according to unofficial results from Tuesday’s election. The blunt-spoken Peterson was a supporter of the farm program and played a prominent role, while Democrats were in the minority, in blocking Republican proposals for huge cuts in SNAP as part of the 2018 farm bill.
If Democrats retain control of the House, Reps. David Scott of Georgia and Jim Costa of California would be in line for the Agriculture chairmanship, based on seniority. Both are members of the Blue Dog Coalition of fiscally conservative Democrats. Peterson was one of the original Blue Dogs in 1994.
Scott secured $80 million in the 2018 farm bill for agriculture-related scholarships at the 19 historically black 1890s Land-Grant Universities. Costa, who grew up on a dairy farm in Fresno and represents the San Joaquin Valley, chairs the Agriculture subcommittee on livestock. Scott is head of the subcommittee on commodity markets and credit.
With nearly all precincts reporting, Fischbach took 54 percent of the vote against Peterson’s 40 percent, said the Minnesota secretary of state’s office. Going into the election, Peterson was described as the most vulnerable incumbent in the House. An accountant by trade and an amateur pilot, he voted against impeachment of President Trump and supported gun rights. He was first elected to the House in 1990.
With Peterson’s departure, three of the “four corners” of farm policy, the Capitol Hill nickname for the chairmen and the minority leaders of the Senate and House Agriculture committees, will be occupied by new faces when Congress convenes in January. Two of the seats could go to Arkansans: Sen. John Boozman appears certain to succeed Pat Roberts, who is retiring, as the top Republican on the Senate committee. Rep. Rick Crawford is vying to be the ranking Republican on House Agriculture.
It would be a boost for Southern crops such as rice and cotton if Boozman and Crawford are committee leaders. The bread and butter work of the committees are the periodic farm bills that dictate ag policy, although their portfolios also include public nutrition, rural economic development and the futures markets. Farm policy arguments tend to run along regional lines — Northern crops such as corn, wheat and soybeans vs. cotton, rice and peanuts in the South — rather than political affiliation.
Boozman, regarded as a consensus builder, has seniority on the Agriculture Committee to succeed Roberts. He would be chairman if Republicans retain control of the Senate or the minority leader if Democrats prevail. Boozman says he would hold hearings to prepare for the 2023 farm bill.
Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow would return as Agriculture chairwoman if Democrats win a Senate majority. Stabenow, who chaired the committee from 2011-15, is a farm program supporter with a keen interest in fruits and vegetables, an important part of Michigan agriculture, and who won inclusion of a USDA office of urban agriculture in the 2018 farm bill.
Crawford is one of three candidates to become senior Republican on the House Agriculture Committee; the others are Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania and Austin Scott of Georgia. The slot is open because of the retirement of Rep. Michael Conaway of Texas. Thompson, Scott and Crawford have stressed their skills in bipartisan legislation, important when Democrats control the House. Party leaders usually have the decisive voice in picking committee leaders in the House.