Photo credit: Screen capture from video by Kevin Hall
The frontrunners in Iowa’s U.S. Senate Republican primary race received dueling endorsements from agricultural leaders in the state. Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey threw his support behind Mark Jacobs this morning. This is the first time that Northey has endorsed in a statewide primary.
“This is a very, very important race. This is an important race not only for Iowa, but nationally. The Senate hangs in the balance based on what happens in this race. So it is my pleasure to be here this morning supporting Mark Jacobs for U.S. Senate,” Northey said.
“Certainly the business of agriculture pays a lot of bills in the state, and one of the reasons I’m supporting Mark Jacobs is that he is a businessman that understands business. He is a proven business leader that has saved jobs, that has made payroll… a man that understands business in a way that our Iowa businesses can be assured that they will have a proven business leader in DC representing them. This is very, very important to our businesses across the state. Another reason I’m supporting Mark is that we’ve got to know each other I have realized what a great person he is. We have a lot of great people in this race, up and down the state there are great folks. Mark is absolutely a great person and I consider him a friend as well now. I’ve had the opportunity to be able to get to know him more and the opportunity to have him serve Iowans. I appreciate a great work ethic, and I know all Iowans do. Mark has that. He is out there he is going to work. He is going to be a hard-working Senator for Iowa. He is a person that is a conservative. He is a man of principle. This is someone that all Iowans can be proud to support and I certainly expect Iowa Republicans to join me in the June 3rd primary,” Northey added.
Jacobs responded, “I can’t tell you how humbled and deeply grateful I am.” You can see the rest of Jacobs’ campaign event here.
State Senator Joni Ernst received the endorsements of two former presidents of the Iowa Farm Bureau. Former Iowa Farm Bureau presidents Ed Wiederstein of Audubon and Craig Lang of Montezuma today announced their support of Ernst in the Republican primary.
Both past Farm Bureau leaders remain active in production agriculture and in service to their communities and state. In separate statements, Wiederstein and Lang emphasized Joni Ernst’s record of public service.
“She really is the best of all worlds for the people of Iowa,” said Ed Wiederstein, adding, “Her experience and background make her the best choice to represent our state. I don’t know what else we could want.”
Craig Lang said, “In my 10 years as Iowa Farm Bureau president, I always made growing and enhancing agriculture and rural communities a priority. Joni is the only candidate that I believe shares the same passion. I support Joni because she is a proven leader who can bring sanity to Bruce Braley’s record in Congress and bring value for the good of Iowans.”
In response to these endorsements, Joni Ernst added, “As the only rural candidate in this race, the men and women of our agricultural community are my friends, family, neighbors and constituents. Both Ed and Craig have meant so much to our state and to our agriculture community, and I could not be prouder to have them standing with me as work toward victory onJune 3rd.”