U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, announced Monday endorsements from the Texas Farm Bureau and the National Rifle Association.

Hallsburg rancher Marc Scott announced Edwards had earned the backing of the Farm Bureau’s political action committee during a midday press conference at the group’s Waco headquarters. Edwards announced getting the NRA nod at the same event.

The Farm Bureau “has supported the congressman in every election since the first, when Central Texas sent him to Congress in 1990,” Scott said, “and we’re very proud to renew that support of Chet as he seeks re-election this year in the 17th Congressional District.”

U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, speaks after receiving an endorsement from the Texas Farm Bureau.
Jerry Larson/Waco Tribune-Herald

Scott heads up the group’s McLennan County chapter.

Edwards faces Bryan Republican Bill Flores in the November election.

The endorsement of the nonpartisan, though generally conservative, Farm Bureau is coveted in Texas. The group counts 37,000 member families in the congressional district.

Scott pointed to Edwards’ opposition to “the government takeover of health care and the cap-and-trade bill” as factors in the endorsement.

Scott said beyond agreeing with past Edwards votes, the organization is counting on the congressman to continue on a key Appropriations Committee panel in the 2011-12 Congress.

In that session, Congress will take up the farm bill — a giant piece of legislation that impacts a host of agricultural programs and is updated every five years.

Edwards’ spot as the only Texan on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture and Rural Development makes his re-election important with the farm bill coming up, Scott said.

Steve Pringle, the Farm Bureau’s legislative director, said past farm bills have favored parts of the country more than others.

In 2002, when Texans had top spots on the Agriculture Committee, Pringle said the bill “addressed southern crop conditions.” The next farm bill, he said, was less favorable, “providing much better service to Midwestern farmers, like corn and soybean producers.”

“Right now we don’t have a southerner in a senior position on the House Ag Committee on the Democratic side.”

“That’s why Chet can play such a major role on the Appropriations committee,” Pringle said. “He can provide leadership for southern crops.”

Flores campaign manager Matt Mackowiak, who showed up at the Edwards press conference, said in a statement that Flores has been a Texas Farm Bureau member for more than three decades. Mackowiak also noted that Flores, who became an oil and gas company executive, grew up on a farm: “Bill Flores understands agricultural issues in the way that only comes from getting dirt under your fingernails,” Mackowiak said.

In announcing the NRA endorsement, Edwards pointed to the “A” rating he received from the group this year as well as his love of hunting.

Mackowiak said Flores got a perfect score on an NRA questionnaire, and secured the endorsement of the Gun Owners of America, a gun rights group that is to the right of the NRA.

“Pro-gunners in Texas have a champion in Bill Flores, a retired businessman who strongly supports the rights of gun owners,” wrote the group’s vice chairman in an endorsement letter that notes Flores has a concealed handgun license.

mshapiro@wacotrib.com

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