As everyone is well aware, the entire U.S. House and one third of the U.S. Senate is up for re-election this November. What effect will the election have on food? There are 3 major pieces of food-related legislation that I'm aware of (and I'm relatively new at this so that doesn't mean that I know about everything yet) and they go through 3 committees in the House and 2 committees in the Senate. Below, I examine the changes that are at stake on the food-related committees.
Overall, if you have a few bucks to spare and you want to spend them on electing people who can boot out Republicans on food-related committees or help Dems on these committees who are in trouble, please donate at La Vida Locavore's ActBlue Page.
First off, the Senate. It's a little easier because there are less committees to pay attention to and because there are less people up for re-election.
The Senate Ag committee. They pass the farm bill every 5-7 years (last passed in 2008) and the child nutrition re-authorization (due in 2009).
Tossup races in the Ag committee include Norm Coleman in Minnesota, and Saxby Chambliss in Georgia. Both Republicans. Chambliss is the ranking Republican on the committee. I'm far more familiar with the Minnesota race because the Democrat running is Al Franken, whose show I listened to quite a bit of back in the day. On one hand, he wrote in one of his books about the problems of manure lagoons from factory farms, and other hand he used to invite Collin Peterson to be a guest on his show. But no matter what, he's better than Coleman.
In Kentucky, Mitch McConnell's race is close but he'll probably win. I'll still cross my fingers of course. There are no Democrats on the ag committee with unsafe seats.
To sum this up:
Best case scenario: +3 Dems
Worst case scenario: No change
My best guess: +1 Dem
Agriculture Appropriations. The last big bill to be concerned with is the ag appropriations bill, passed annually. That is handled by the ag sub-committee within the appropriations committee.
We know for sure that our friend Larry Wide Stance Craig will not be returning to this committee. However, his seat will go to another Republican, Senator-to-be Risch. The only other possible turnover here is Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, and that's not all that likely.
Best case scenario: +1 Dem
Most likely: No change
And now, the House. We have one extra committee to pay attention to here because the Child Nutrition Re-authorization is going through the Education and Labor committee instead of the Ag committee. And that's a good thing, because the Ag committee is so crappy they wouldn't know what child nutrition was if it hit them in the face.
Agriculture. The House ag committee passes the farm bill, which won't come around again for several years. Still, I'm sure they're doing more than just twiddling their thumbs between now and 2013, so we might as well try to elect good people to the committee.
Two Republicans on the committee are almost definitely losing their seats. Marilyn Musgrave from Colorado and Tim Walberg from Michigan. Robin Hayes from North Carolina and Randy Kuhl from New York MIGHT lose their seats as well (the polls show them as "light blue"). Bye guys! Won't miss ya! (Especially you, Marilyn.)
One "Democrat" is losing his seat - Tim Mahoney. He's bad. An even worse Republican is beating him.
Next up, there is one tossup race: Republican Terry Everett's seat in the 2nd district of Alabama (he's not running again). Keep in mind that neither the winner of this race, nor the Republican taking Mahoney's seat will necessarily be on the Ag committee.
Sadly, Mean Jean Schmidt in Ohio's race is currently "light red." Ugh. You'd think people would wake up after so many years of this. I hate that woman.
Last, Democrat Steve Kagen in Wisconsin is having a slightly hard time holding his seat. It's light blue right now. Kagen is a freshman Congressman and he's no doubt the best person on the whole freaking ag committee. Please, please help him!
Best case scenario: +6 Dems
Worst case scenario: No net change
My best guess: +4 Dems
Ag Appropriations. Like in the Senate, the Ag sub-committee within the Appropriations committee handles the annual ag appropriations bills. There is going to be very little turnover here. Republican Ray LaHood of IL is not running again, but his seat will be won by his Republican successor.
Education and Labor. This committee is rather important to us, since they are on the verge of passing the Child Nutrition Re-authorization in 2009. Here's what's going on.
In Michigan, Republican Tim Wahlberg is losing his seat to a Democrat. Bye Tim! Republican Randy Kuhl's seat in New York is also considered "light blue." That's Eric Massa's race, and I am absolutely delighted to support him. (I don't know where he stands on food and there's no guarantee he'd be on this committee anyway, but overall, he's a great guy.)
There are two tossup races - Carol Shea-Porter of New Hampshire (a Democrat) and Ric Keller of Florida (a Republican). Keller is AWFUL! Please support his opponent, Alan Grayson.
Best case scenario: +3 Dems
Worst case scenario: No net change
My best guess: +2 Dems