Election 2022: 2020 State House candidate to run for Agri. Commish
Democrat Nakita Hemingway launches campaign for Georgia Agriculture Commissioner
A former candidate for the Georgia House of Representatives announced over the weekend that she will enter the race to be the state’s top farmer.
Democrat Nakita Hemingway announced on Saturday that she will run for Georgia Agriculture Commissioner, becoming the first known Democrat to enter the contest. “No better way for me to celebrate Juneteenth than to announce my historic candidacy for Commissioner of Agriculture,” she said on social media over the weekend.
A cut-flower farmer and a realtor, Hemingway was the 2020 Democratic nominee for the Georgia House of Representatives in the 104th District, which covers eastern Gwinnett County. She fell short to Republican incumbent Chuck Efstration, even as Joe Biden was narrowly winning the district in the presidential election.
Agriculture is the largest industry in Georgia, and Hemingway believes it is the key to growing our state’s economy. But she also says that there are some things that need to change. “Farm workers across this state lack adequate protection, representation, and pay,” she says. “Too many rural areas lack the economic resources and infrastructures their citizens need to build better lives.” More from her campaign website:
“To plant a seed means to believe in tomorrow and I believe agriculture is key to growing Georgia. Agriculture is a vehicle by which we can build stronger rural communities and local economies. Through agriculture, we can eradicate hunger and provide our citizens with the resources they need for better health and greater prosperity.”
If elected, Hemingway would become both the first female and the first African-American to serve as Georgia’s Agriculture Commissioner.
The current Agriculture Commissioner, Republican Gary Black, is stepping down after three terms to mount a campaign for U.S. Senate. So far, no Republicans have entered the race to succeed him, but it is widely expected that State Sen. Tyler Harper, a farmer from Ocilla, will join the race. Harper is one of the youngest members of the Georgia Senate and once served as the chairman of Black’s campaign committee.