Texas agriculture commissioner candidates in Democratic primary March 1
Susan Hays
Occupation: Attorney
Age: 53
Campaign website: www.hays4ag.com
Best way for voters to reach you: susan@hays4ag.com
Education: B.A., UT-Austin; J.D., Georgetown University Law Center
Have you run for or held elected office before? Dallas County Democratic Chair 2002-2005
Please list highlights of your civic involvement (for example, service on boards/commissions or leadership positions held)
- Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life, Advisory Board
- International Cannabis Bar Association
- Equality Texas Foundation, Board Member (2019)
- Jane’s Due Process, Inc., Co-founder and Board member (2001-2006), President (2001-2002), Legal Advisory Committee (2002-2014, 2018-present)
- Committee for a Qualified Judiciary, Dallas, Texas (2005-2012)
- Texas Democracy Foundation, Board member (2005-2006)
Have you ever been arrested, charged with a crime or otherwise been part of a criminal proceeding? If yes, please explain. No
Have you been involved in a civil lawsuit or bankruptcy proceeding? If yes, please explain. Yes, in my official capacity as Dallas County Democratic Party Chair, I was a party to four different lawsuits over ballot placement and malfunctioning voting machines
Who are your top three campaign contributors? I’ve had three contributions of $5,000, one from my Mom and the other two from fellow women lawyers.
Why are you seeking this office? The dysfunction and corruption in the office angered me, and the missed opportunities for rural Texas and Texas agriculture saddened me. We deserve a government that does the work and works for the people.
What qualities make for a good Agriculture Commissioner and how do you embody them? Hard work, listening, and relationship building. The commission is a conduit for federal funds, but maximizing that return of our tax dollars requires a good relationship with USDA. Same with seeking budget support from the Legislature. I understand how government works, am a policy wonk, and am adept at building unlikely alliances to get the job done.
What would be your top 3 priorities as agriculture commissioner? First, give TDA a good scrubbing and prepare for Session. Assess the resources -- structural, financial, and human -- then support those career workers who can improve the agency and hire talent to fill the gaps. Second, improve the rural hospital and economic development programs. We spend only $9 million on rural health through the TDA budget. I will fight for more funding and find the funds in the existing budget to hire staff to support rural healthcare and help keep rural hospitals open. Third, promote economically and environmentally sustainable agriculture. TDA should lead Texas toward more economic opportunities in ag and promote best practice to restore the land back to its healthiest state.
How would you assess the state’s Industrial Hemp Program? Should farmers be allowed to grow marijuana in the state? A missed opportunity. I helped draft and pass the 2019 law that legalized hemp in Texas and created the program. The lack of trust in the Ag Department was palatable. I came to see why that was as I shifted to working with the agency on rule making and implementation of the program. TDA invented fees that were explicitly prohibited by the law which drove up costs (particularly for nurseries). Farmers should be able to grow the “marijuana’ varieties of cannabis in Texas, but through a thoughtful, staged expansion of our cannabis laws. If a state does not get ahead of the market, the market gets messy. We need cannabis laws that promote public health and safety, are science driven, and include healthy enforcement of the rules and laws, including adequate funding of our forensic crime labs to help stamp out the black market and catch those who sell adulterated product.
Is there anything the state can do to address increased meat prices being seen by consumers? Yes, pursue some of the $1 billion in funds the Biden administration has announced to support smaller meatpacking plants. The monopoly in the supply chain hasn’t helped lower prices, but has hurt workers, ranchers, neighbors to the plants, and consumers. The more locally processed and consumed meat we have, the lower the prices will be -- along with far better quality food. TDA should be hyper focused on supply chain issues and identifying more ways to keep profits in Texas instead of going to Wall Street.
One of the Department of Agriculture’s jobs is to administer the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs school children and promote healthy living. How would you approach these tasks as Ag commissioner? Promoting the use of healthier food: more fresh fruits and vegetables, more cooked and not processed meals, more locally sourced food. Our ISDs should be buying products from Texas -- not shipping them in from out of state. TDA should encourage kids to put down their cell phones and plant a garden (every school should have one). The program shouldn’t just be about nutrition but also about educating kids to grow healthy, cook healthy, and eat healthy.
Ed Ireson
Occupation: Businessman
Age: 34
Campaign website: https://edfortexas.com
Best way for voters to reach you: howdy@edfortexas.com / 979-200-4625
Education: BA from LSU
Have you run for or held elected office before? (Please list previous offices sought or held, with years) No
Please list highlights of your civic involvement (for example, service on boards/commissions or leadership positions held): I’m new to politics — I’ve spent my life building businesses that have employed hundreds of Texans, and working in the Brazos Valley with our family ranch operation.
Have you ever been arrested, charged with a crime or otherwise been part of a criminal proceeding? If yes, please explain. No
Have you been involved in a civil lawsuit or bankruptcy proceeding? If yes, please explain. Yes, I was involved in a dispute with a landlord that resulted in both parties filing suit against each other, in or around 2014, which was subsequently settled.
Who are your top three campaign contributors? As of the end of the last filing period: my mother, my uncle, and former business associates.
Why are you seeking this office? I’m new to politics but I know Texas government needs more character and fewer characters. Agriculture isn’t red or blue, and the work of serving our farmers, ranchers, and the communities they support is too important to get sidetracked by hyper-partisan theater in Washington D.C. or Austin. This election cycle, we’ll hear a lot about today’s divisive politics. Our leaders should be expected to build bridges toward tomorrow. The Department of Agriculture oversees school meal programs, rural infrastructure development — including internet and healthcare, and regulatory mechanisms to keep Texans safe. These are priorities that all Texans support.Texas agriculture is increasingly left behind by today’s politics. I’ll focus on running the Department with honesty, integrity, and transparency. I want to ensure that the pride in our rural roots and the economic heartbeat that is Texas agriculture remains deeply ingrained in our state’s identity.
What qualities make for a good Agriculture Commissioner and how do you embody them? My focus will always be on Texas farmers, ranchers, and the communities they support; the next generation of Texans; economic innovation; ensuring every school child has nutritious food and every family has access to the internet and health care; and representing all Texans no matter how they voted. These are the basic qualities that should be embodied by the leader of a state agency.
What would be your top 3 priorities as agriculture commissioner? As Ag Commissioner, I’ll first assess and correct the damage current unethical leadership has made on what should be the most admired government agency in Texas.Second, I’ll update the department’s 1980’s-based technology. I’ve built and grown organizations, specifically their internal systems and processes using modern approaches and technology. I’m equipped to come in and bring the agency into 2023 and prepare it to evolve over the next century. The next generation of farmers and ranchers need an agency that is well equipped to serve them.Third, I’ll work with legislators and state leadership to champion policies and efforts that promote and support Texas agriculture. Democrats need a candidate in November who is able to work on both sides of the aisle and with market interests from around the world, regardless of their politics.
How would you assess the state’s Industrial Hemp Program? Should farmers be allowed to grow marijuana in the state? The Texas Legislature did the bare minimum with the Hemp program. Instead, they left many questions unanswered, so the state is mired in litigation to resolve those issues in the courts. My focus as Ag Commissioner is that we should be ensuring our small and medium sized farmers have the same economic opportunities as those in neighboring states. We should do it methodically; with well-researched data to back up the decision making. Whether a farmer should be able to grow marijuana is not a question that is under the purview of the Commissioner of Agriculture. You should write your legislator and have them change the law. When they legalize marijuana, my focus remains on the small and medium-sized farmers, so that they aren’t pushed aside by massive conglomerates.
Is there anything the state can do to address increased meat prices being seen by consumers? We need to massively expand our processing and packaging facilities in the state. I’ve talked with other ranchers who are frustrated because they are either too small of an operation, or they have to haul their cattle many hours away to get to a processor. This is unacceptable.We’ve seen too much corporate consolidation in this stage of the food supply chain. That has resulted in ranchers being squeezed due to the lack of competition and consumers seeing massive increases to their grocery bill. I will ensure that we have economic incentive programs in place for locally-owned meat processors across the state.
Is there anything the state can do to address increased meat prices being seen by consumers? We need to massively expand our processing and packaging facilities in the state. I’ve talked with other ranchers who are frustrated because they are either too small of an operation, or they have to haul their cattle many hours away to get to a processor. This is unacceptable.We’ve seen too much corporate consolidation in this stage of the food supply chain. That has resulted in ranchers being squeezed due to the lack of competition and consumers seeing massive increases to their grocery bill. I will ensure that we have economic incentive programs in place for locally-owned meat processors across the state.
One of the Department of Agriculture’s jobs is to administer the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs school children and promote healthy living. How would you approach these tasks as Ag commissioner? I’m one of the few candidates who is talking loudly about the need for our school meal programs to be prioritized in this election. The focus of my campaign is on the next generation of Texans, and as a new father, I’m even more focused on ensuring that all Texan kids are getting well-rounded, nutritious meals so that they can be ready to learn.I’ve had parents send me their school lunch menus, and I get to see the terrible options that are being presented. One parent showed me a menu that consisted of a sweet bread for breakfast, and exclusively fried food for lunch. If we want continue to be a state where businesses come to open up shop, we must start with the baseline: a well-educated workforce. And it’s hard to get a good education if you’re hungry or being fed sugary foods.
