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Agriculture Commissioner elections, 2016
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← 2015
|
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| 2016 State Executive Elections |
| 2016 Top Ballot |
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| 2016 Down Ballot |
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| Previous Elections |
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Two states held elections for agriculture commissioner on November 8, 2016.
Click on a state flag for more information:
Partisan analysis
The chart below is a breakdown of the political parties pertaining to the state executive office of agriculture commissioner prior to the 2016 elections. The office is nonpartisan in all states where the position is appointed by the governor, which is why there are relatively few states where the party affiliation is shown.
| Office |  Democratic
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 Republican
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 Independent
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Nonpartisan | Total seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture Commissioner | 1 | 11 | 0 | 38 | 50 |
The partisan breakdown of agriculture commissioners remained unchanged after the 2014 elections, as Republicans retained all seven seats up for election. Heading into the 2016 elections, Democrats held one agriculture commissioner seat and Republicans held 11 agriculture commissioner election seats. Thirty-eight of the executive agriculture commissioner seats are held by nonpartisan appointees. In 2016, one Republican seat is up for election along with the sole Democratic seat. This created a partisan risk in that a disproportionate number of seats held by Democrats were being challenged compared to the actual partisan balance. Democrats, therefore, entered the November 2016 elections in a position of greater relative risk than Republicans. One seat changed party hands in 2016: West Virginia incumbent Walt Helmick (D) was unseated by state Rep. Kent Leonhardt (R).
Influence of voter turnout
Agriculture commissioner elections across the country coincided with what was a highly competitive presidential election, which drives up voter turnout down the ballot.[1] This increased turnout during presidential election years can significantly affect the partisan balance of state governments. In particular, offices elected during mid-presidential term elections disadvantage the party of the current president, a trend that has remained relatively constant since the Civil War. Presidential election years see aggregate gains for the party of the winning presidential candidate.[2][1]
Seven states held agriculture commissioner elections in 2014. That same year, voter turnout was the lowest recorded since 1942.[3] Indeed, voter turnout has dropped during mid-presidential term elections since the 1840s.[2] This means a large majority of publicly elected agriculture commissioners were elected during these midterm cycles that see significantly lower turnout.
2016 elections
Two states held agriculture commissioner elections in 2016. Browse candidates, key deadlines, and results by state:
North Carolina
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West Virginia
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About the office
In the United States, the agriculture commissioner refers to the head of a state's agriculture department, division, or agency. It is a state-level position within the executive branch of all 50 states. The title and duties of the office vary from state to state, but the general role is to oversee regulation of various facets of the agriculture industry as well as the promotion of state agribusiness. This state executive office is most commonly appointed rather than elected, with only 12 states using the ballot to select their agriculture commissioners. Besides commissioner, other titles assigned to the role of state agriculture chief include "director" and "secretary"—for example, the Iowa secretary of agriculture and the Missouri director of agriculture.
| Quick facts about Agriculture Commissioners |
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Past elections
2015
- See also: State executive official elections, 2015
Three states held elections for agriculture commissioner in 2015: Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
To view the full electoral history for agricultural commissioners, click [show] to expand the full section. | |||
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Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Agriculture Commissioner election' OR 'Agricultural Commissioner election' 2016. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Campbell, J. E. (1987) "The revised theory of surge and decline." American Journal of Political Science, 965-979.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Pew Research Center, “Voter turnout always drops off for midterm elections, but why?” July 24, 2014
- ↑ TIME, "Voter Turnout in Midterm Elections Hits 72-Year Low," November 10, 2014
- ↑ Council of State Governments, "Table 4.11 Selected State Administrative Officials:Annual Salaries," accessed March 25, 2015
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