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As the redrawing of legislative districts continues to move through proper procedures at the Statehouse, candidates and voters are left to wonder exactly what the primary elections will look like this spring.

While that part of the election process remains in flux, the way Farm Bureau selects candidates to be designated as a Friend of Agriculture, which will be announced in conjunction with the organization’s fall Election Guide, will remain the same.
Both American Farm Bureau and Ohio Farm Bureau have a process to determine candidates who have demonstrated support for agriculture.

Two factors are used to determine which candidate will receive this distinction in each race. One is an evaluation conducted by each county in the congressional district. Local Farm Bureau leaders provide input on the representative’s level of engagement, as well as his or her responsiveness to agricultural and business issues. The second factor used is the legislator’s voting record and position on American Farm Bureau’s key issues and Ohio Farm Bureau’s key votes while the candidate has been in office.

At the state level, candidates deemed favorable to the agriculture community are given the designation “Friend of Agriculture,” awarded by AGGPAC (see sidebar below). In open seat screenings only, both candidates in a race can receive this designation.

How the process works

For races with incumbents, candidates are evaluated based on their voting record, an issue survey and county Farm Bureaus’ input on their level of engagement. For incumbents to be considered for the designation, they must have a satisfactory voting record in regard to Ohio Farm Bureau key votes, which are those issues deemed critical enough to make representatives aware of their vote’s importance to the interests of Ohio Farm Bureau members.

For open seat races, county Farm Bureaus will host screenings for Statehouse candidates to determine Friend of Agriculture status. After a group of members from within the district interview both candidates and discuss priority issues, the screening committee can designate one candidate, both candidates, or neither candidate as the Friend of Agriculture.

Ohio Farm Bureau publishes an Election Guide for members every two years. Look for
this year’s Election Guide in the September/October issue of Our Ohio magazine.

What is AGGPAC?

The Agriculture for Good Government Political Action Committee (AGGPAC) is Farm Bureau’s political action committee that routinely monitors the voting records and political campaigns of Ohio’s elected officials at the state and national levels. Candidates are screened by local Farm Bureau members to determine if they are agriculture friendly and then AGGPAC supports their campaign.