(WASHINGTON D.C.) — In a vote on Tuesday morning, Representative Angie Craig (D-MN) has been selected to lead Democrats on the House Agriculture Committee as the Ranking Member for the 119th Congress.
Craig will take over for Representative David Scott from Georgia, who has been the leader for the Democrats on the committee since 2021. She also beat out a challenge from Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA) to lead the committee. Craig, who won her fourth term in Congress in November, won a key vote by members of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee on Monday to succeed Rep. Scott and that appeared to set the stage for Tuesday’s news.
Ag groups have begun issuing their congratulations for Rep. Craig on Tuesday.
“We want to congratulate Rep. Craig for securing the role as ranking member on the House Committee on Agriculture for the 119th Congress,” says Kenneth Hartman Jr., president of the National Corn Growers Association. “Rep. Craig has been a close ally of farmers in general and fierce advocate of corn growers in particular. We are thrilled by this development and look forward to working with her in the year ahead as we advance legislation important to our growers. We also want to thank Ranking Member David Scott (D-Ga.) for his tireless work on behalf of our issues. He has been a true leader, and we look forward to working with him in the next Congress.”
“Congresswoman Craig is a champion for rural America and will make an outstanding leader on the House Agriculture Committee. She truly understands the value of biofuels and how critical they are to the continued success of American agriculture,” said Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor. “We congratulate her on this new role and look forward to continuing our work with her to lower emissions, reduce consumer costs, and support our farmers by expanding the use of American biofuels.”
“It’s welcome news that Rep. Craig will be representing her caucus in negotiations as Congress works to pass disaster relief and a Farm Bill,” said Minnesota Farmers Union President Gary Wertish. “Rep. Craig has a proven track record of bringing people together around bipartisan solutions. We’re glad that she will be joining Sen. Klobuchar as a leading voice in Farm Bill discussions.”
“We congratulate Representative Craig for being named as the ranking Democrat member of the House Committee on Agriculture for 119th Congress,” says Darrick Moe, CEO of the Minnesota Rural Electric Association. “Rep. Craig has understood the importance of Minnesota’s rural electric cooperatives for the prosperity of rural Minnesota and has advocated for programs that assist cooperatives in providing reliable and affordable electricity. When our cooperative leaders visit Representative Craig, she listens carefully and works hard to find solutions to serve her constituents and address the broad challenges facing our country. She works to build bridges and seek bipartisan solutions among a diverse set of stakeholders.”
Minnesota lawmakers will now lead key positions on both the House and Senate Ag Committees as Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is set to take over as the Democratic lead and Ranking Member on the Senate Ag Committee in the 119th Congress.
Stay tuned for more on this developing story. This story was updated with additional comments as of 11:30am CST on Tuesday, December 17th.
