State Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson picked up the endorsement of the Texas Farm Bureau’s political arm Tuesday at the Heart O’ Texas Fair & Rodeo.

At a news conference at the fairgrounds, Anderson stated his intention to work to pass eminent domain reform favored by the Waco-based farming and ranching group that died by veto during the last legislative session.

Marc Scott, president of the McLennan County Farm Bureau, was on hand to give the endorsement to Anderson, a Waco veterinarian and a three-term Republican incumbent.

State Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson (left) talks to McLennan County Farm Bureau president Marc Scott at a news conference in front of a backdrop at the Heart O’ Texas Fair & Rodeo. Anderson was at the fair to receive the endorsement of the Texas Farm Bureau.
Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald

Scott called the endorsement decision “an easy one,” noting Anderson voted with the bureau 90 percent of the time during the last legislative session.

Anderson is facing John Mabry, who held Anderson’s District 56 seat during the 2003 legislative session.

At the news conference Scott lauded Anderson for his “votes on the ever important private property rights — a concern for all Texans.”

Reforming eminent domain, through which state entities or utilities seize private land, is a top priority of the Farm Bureau, which wants to make the rules governing the process more favorable to landowners.

The issue has been a theme at many of the group’s local endorsement events this campaign season.

Anderson said he also will work to make sure water legislation doesn’t get lost in a session in which redistricting and the budget are expected to monopolize lawmakers’ time and energy.

Beyond individual issues, Scott noted Anderson’s role as vice chair of the House Agriculture and Livestock Committee, a panel that considers policies of importance to the farm bureau.

This year, the Farm Bureau’s political action committee, AGFUND, also has thrown its weight behind Democratic state Rep. Jim Dunnam and U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco.

mshapiro@wacotrib.com

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