Angie Craig to Lead House Ag Democrats

By Ryan Hanrahan

Politico’s Meredith Lee Hill, Nicholas Wu and Daniella Diaz reported Tuesday that “Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) will lead Democrats on the House Agriculture Committee in the next Congress after winning a caucus vote Tuesday.”

“Craig, 52, beat out Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.), 72, for the role by a vote of 121 to 91, according to five Democrats in the room, granted anonymity to share the private vote tally,” Lee Hill, Wu and Diaz reported. “She will become the first woman ranking member of the House Agriculture panel and is part of a larger generational shift among House Democrats, who have forced out a number of aging committee leaders in the wake of their November election losses.”

“The current ranking Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.), dropped out of the race Monday night after winning just five votes in Democrats’ Steering Committee. Scott, 79, faced growing calls over the last several years from rank-and-file Democrats to step down from his committee role, amid concerns about his health, lack of leadership and struggle to negotiate the $1.5 trillion farm bill,” Lee Hill, Wu and Diaz reported. “But while he had previously defied those efforts, thanks in part to support from the Congressional Black Caucus and Democratic leaders, that support quickly crumbled after first Costa and Craig announced their challenges last month.”

The Hill’s Mike Lillis reported Tuesday that “Craig, a perennial frontliner from a battleground district, had made the case that she was the better fit to appeal to Heartland voters who have drifted to the GOP in recent decades.”

“‘I just won my D+1 district by nearly 14 points because my farmers and rural constituents know that I’ll meet them where they’re at, I’ll listen to their concerns, and I’ll work with whoever I can to improve their lives,’ she said after the vote,” according to Lillis’ reporting. “Craig said she’ll use the ranking member spot to focus squarely on issued affecting working class Americans, not least the inflationary trend that’s hit grocery stores around the country since the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

House Ag Committee GOP to Add Six New Members

Agri-Pulse’s Lydia Johnson reported Tuesday that “Washington Rep. Dan Newhouse, a member of the Appropriations Committee, and five newly elected Republicans will join the House Agriculture Committee in January to fill seats vacated by committee departures on the GOP side. The first-term members are Reps. Tony Wied of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania’s Rob Bresnahan, Mark Harris from North Carolina, Indiana’s Mark Messmer and David Taylor of Ohio.”

“Reps. Mark Alford of Missouri, Max Miller from Ohio and Nick Langworthy of New York all won reelection races but are leaving the committee,” Johnson reported. “…Reps. Marc Molinaro of New York, Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon and John Duarte of California are currently serving on the Ag Committee but lost reelection races in November. Pro-union Chavez-DeRemer has since been nominated to serve as secretary of labor in the incoming Trump administration.”

“Newhouse was granted a waiver to serve on both the Appropriations and Agriculture committees during the upcoming Congress, mimicking the process Iowa Rep. Randy Feenstra pursued to hold seats on both the Ways and Means and Agriculture committees,” Johnson reported.