EXCLUSIVE — The Texas Farm Bureau, the most influential agricultural organization in the farm-rich state, has endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) for U.S. Senate.
“General Paxton has consistently used the courts to defend Texas farmers, ranchers, and landowners,” said Russell Boening, president of the Texas Farm Bureau’s AGFUND.
Boening cited Paxton’s past legal actions as Texas attorney general, such as defending private property rights along the Red River and opposing federal regulations that increase costs for agricultural producers.
“The General has also worked to protect rural landowners affected by border-related damage and other threats to private property rights,” Boening told the Washington Examiner. “He has stood with Texas agriculture and worked to protect the interests of farm and ranch families across our state. General Paxton will continue to be an advocate for agriculture in the U.S. Senate.”
As the state’s chief legal officer, Paxton also helped launch a program to provide landowners with compensation for agricultural property damages caused by trespassing in connection with border crimes.
“Our farmers and ranchers are critical not only to the state of Texas, but also to feeding and supporting our entire country and providing the food security that is critical to our national security,” Paxton told the Washington Examiner. “That’s why I’m incredibly honored to have the endorsement of the Texas Farm Bureau.”
Paxton promised that, if elected to the Senate, he would continue to support policies that strengthen American agriculture, protect the U.S. food supply, and “make sure Washington bureaucrats do not stand in the way of the men and women who feed and fuel America.”
Known as the “voice of Texas agriculture,” the Texas Farm Bureau represents more than 500,000 member-families in Texas, which is home to the most farms and ranches of any U.S. state by both number and size. The agricultural industry is a major economic driver in Texas, and the country’s leading producer of livestock.
The farming bureau’s endorsement of Paxton centers on another defining issue for Texans in the race between the Republican candidate and his Democratic opponent, Texas state Rep. James Talarico, whose past comments claiming that meat production causes climate change have drawn intense backlash in the beef-loving state.
A collage of James Talarico and Ken Paxton. (AP)Critics have called Talarico “anti-meat” and unelectable, arguing that his prior pro-vegan stance is antithetical to the Texas way of life.
The controversy stems from an old video from 2022, in which Talarico declared, “I am proud to say that our campaign has officially become a non-meat campaign.” While running for a third term in the Texas House, Talarico vowed to buy only vegan products from local vegan businesses.
Talarico has since tried to repair his image against the “vegan accusations,” including by posting a caption-less picture of himself eating barbequed meat in a shirt sporting the Texas flag.
The Washington Examiner contacted Talarico’s campaign for comment.
