Agricultural Commissioner

There are four officers in Florida government that are elected state-wide: Governor, Attorney General, Chief Financial Officer, and the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Most Floridians simply call the last job “the agricultural commissioner” and think that farming is all the job entails. The next time they’re in a service station, they should look at the sticker on the pump telling them it was inspected for accuracy, because the name on the sticker is the “ag com”. While agriculture is half of the job, the other half is being the advocate for consumers in the government.

Normally the people running are qualified and mostly non-partisan, despite what it may say by their name. Normally a lot of people just don’t bother to vote on this line. Well this year, things aren’t normal because Adam “Howdy Doody” Putnam is the Republican nominee.

Putnam is the grandchild of Ben Hill Griffin, just like Cruella de Harris. Ben Hill didn’t have a farm in central Florida, he created a citrus and cattle empire. Putnam isn’t in farming, he’s in agribusiness. He’s not likely to have much sympathy for small farmers and their problems.

Then there’s energy. Putnam led the charge in Congress to open Florida’s waters to oil drilling, and when he talks about home grown energy resources, he must be talking about sugar cane, which only prospers in the area that is supposed to be returned to the Everglades.

I’m guessing that Putnam sees the Ag Com job as a step towards the US Senate or Governor. That means a large campaign chest, and he isn’t going to get that by helping small farmers and consumers.

That’s my opinion, YMMV.