Donald Trump is headed back to the White House and he could have a sizable Republican majority in the Senate to help him confirm nominees and move his legislative priorities, notably an extension of expiring tax cuts.
“America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate,” Trump declared in a victory speech early Wednesday. Ending on a note of unity, Trump also said that “success is going to bring us together” as a country.
Vice President-elect JD Vance, who automatically becomes a leading candidate for the GOP presidential nomination in 2028, called Trump’s victory the “greatest comeback in the history of the United States of America.”
Trump also said he expected Republicans to win the House, although control of that chamber was still up in the air Wednesday morning. If Democrats were to seize control of that chamber, which Republicans currently control 220-212, Republicans could be forced to moderate their agenda significantly.
Still, Trump’s sweeping victory Tuesday has big implications for many issues, including ones that Trump could potentially tackle without congressional action. Those include trade and immigration as well as regulatory reform. Trump has threatened to raise tariffs across the board and to carry out mass deportations of illegal immigrants. He also could take steps to roll back some of the Biden administration’s regulatory actions at EPA and other agencies.
One big question for agriculture is what role Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his allies will have in the new administration. Kennedy is a long-time vaccine skeptic, and he and his supporters are vocal critics of vegetable oils, ultraprocessed foods, and the use of pesticides in agriculture. Kennedy is a strong proponent of regenerative agriculture.
Trump gave a shoutout to Kennedy in his victory speech. “He's going to help make America healthy again. … He wants to do some things, and we’re going to let him get to it,” Trump said.
Trump reiterated his admonition to Kennedy to stay out of energy policy. “Other than that, go and have a good time, Bobby,” Trump said.
Trump ran up his numbers in rural areas while significantly expanding his support among Latinos, helping him defeat Vice President Kamala Harris in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and giving him significant leads in Nevada and Michigan as the vote count continued Wednesday morning.
“The enthusiasm for Trump in rural areas was real. … He’s doing better than he’d ever done before,” Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign manager, Jim Messina, said on MSNBC. “The Democrats have a real rural problem.”
The GOP was assured control of the Senate after Republican Bernie Moreno defeated Senate Ag Committee member Sherrod Brown in Ohio, and Ag Committee Republican, Deb Fischer, won her re-election race in Nebraska. Earlier in the night, Republicans flipped the West Virginia seat vacated by the retiring Joe Manchin.
The switch in Senate control means John Boozman of Arkansas will take over as chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee with Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota likely the ranking Democrat. Idaho Republican Mike Crapo will take over the Senate Finance Committee, which handles tax and trade policy. The current chair, Ron Wyden, D-Ore., will become ranking member.
Republicans claimed a 52nd seat when The Associated Press declared Wednesday morning that Republican Tim Sheehy had unseated Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., an organic farmer and member of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee.
Republican challengers also were narrowly leading races against Democratic incumbents in Pennsylvania and Nevada.
But in Wisconsin, Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin held off a challenge from Republican Eric Hovde, and in Michigan, House Agriculture Democrat Elissa Slotkin narrowly defeated Republican Mike Rogers for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee.
In the House, numerous seats with significant agriculture districts were in play, and the incumbents were largely holding their own.
In an exception, Democrat Josh Riley unseated incumbent Rep. Marc Molinaro in New York’s 19th District. The race was one of the most expensive in the country.
But House Ag Committee member Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, secured a second term against former USDA official Lanon Baccam in Iowa’s 3rd District. Baccam had support from Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack.
House Ag member Don Davis, one of four Democrats on the Ag Committee who voted for a GOP-led farm bill in May, narrowly led his race for a second term in North Carolina’s 1st District against Republican Laurie Buckhout. This race became one of the most competitive for House Ag Democrats after redistricting.
An Illinois Democrat on House Ag who also voted for the farm bill, Eric Sorensen, won his re-election race, and another rural Democrat from that state, Nikki Budzinski, was leading in hers. House Ag Democrats Gabe Vasquez in New Mexico and Jahana Hayes in Connecticut also won their races.
In Nebraska’s Omaha-based 2nd District, Republican Rep. Don Bacon was holding on against Tony Vargas. Bacon has served on the House Agriculture Committee since 2017.
In Wisconsin’s 3rd District, first-term Derrick Van Orden was ahead of Democrat Rebecca Cooke in his re-election bid.
In California, House Ag Committee Republican John Duarte and dairy farmer David Valadao, a member of the House Ag Appropriations Subcommittee, were leading in their races, but vote counting in California could continue for days.
Slaughterhouse ban, carbon pipeline measure fail
Denver voters soundly defeated a proposed slaughterhouse ban that would have closed the nation’s largest lamb processor, Superior Farms. The processor, joined by livestock groups and meatpacking worker unions, mounted a $2.4 million campaign to fight the measure, which was sponsored by Pro-Animal Future, a group opposed to animal slaughter.
"Congratulations to the Superior Farms’ employees, the Stop the Ban Protect Jobs campaign and the community of Denver for a decisive victory to protect a single business that was unfairly threatened as part of an electoral experiment by out of state animal rights radicals,” Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts said in a statement Tuesday evening.
In South Dakota, voters defeated a referred bill that would have set a surcharge and guidelines for carbon pipeline. With 90% of votes counted, the ballot question was failing 40% to 60%, meaning state voters opted to repeal Senate Bill 201.
The law would have allowed counties to require a $1 per foot surcharge on carbon dioxide pipelines for any tax year the operator receives a credit. Revenue would have been disbursed as tax relief to property owners in the county. The law also included requirements for pipeline construction.
Supporters of SB 201 outpaced opponents in funding throughout the campaign, with donors including ethanol plants relying on the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline to lower their carbon footprint.
Opponents argued the bill would have reduced landowner rights and county control.
UPDATED at 3:45 p.m. with Senate race results.
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