Rick Nolan

Two Republican-held House seats in the heavily agricultural Central Valley of California could be ripe for picking by Democrats if voters are riled by GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump's criticism of Hispanics and immigrants, says the Los Angeles Times. Rep. David Valadao, a member of the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees USDA and FDA funding, represents a district that is 71 percent Latino, and Agriculture Committee member Jeff Denham has a district that is 26 percent Latino.

Businessman Stewart Mills is running for the second time against Rep Rick Nolan, a House Agriculture Committee member, in the northeastern quadrant of Minnesota, says Roll Call. A moderate Democrat, Nolan won re-election in 2014 with 48.5 percent of the vote in a three-way race. Mills trailed by 3,732 votes, or 1.4 percentage points.

A dozen elections today may influence food and agriculture policy nationally, They range from the Kansas race that could determine the next chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee to referendums on soda taxes and GMO labeling.

Some $10 million could be spent on the U.S. House race between Rep Steve Southerland and Democrat Gwen Graham in the Florida panhandle, says WTXL-TV in Tallahassee.

"The race for the U.S. Senate seat from Kansas is about to get nastier," says the Kansas City Star in a story headlined, "With a week to go, U.S. Senate candidates in Kansas still haven't closed the sale."

Arkansas Sen Mark Pryor's chances are fading against Republican Tom Cotton, saysSabato's Crystal Ball, adding "it’s increasingly hard to see him overcoming Arkansas’ hard shift to the right.