Thicke Supporter Offers 25k To Match!

Last night a supporter of Francis Thicke’s campaign called us with an offer to match up to 25k in contributions over the next 48 hours. That means that the 50k we need to get the message out on TV and secure a win is at hand.

You Heard It From Northey: Vote For Francis Thicke

If you tuned into Iowa Public Radio’s “The Exchange” earlier today, you heard incumbent Ag Secretary Bill Northey say that if you want to return local control over CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operations) to county governments, you should “engage in the political process to set up those rules.”

In other words, you should vote for Francis Thicke for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture.

Iowa State Daily Endosement

“This editorial board sees Thicke as being head and shoulders above the competition, and we want him as our next secretary of Agriculture.” So said the Iowa State Daily editorial board in its endorsement of my candidacy for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture. Here is their full endorsement statement: Last week the Daily’s Editorial Board ran [...]

Harkin: ‘Thicke One Of The Best Ag Secretary Candidates Ever’

Countdown to Victory: 8 Days U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, one of the most powerful voices in American agriculture as the chairman of the Senate Ag Committee for many years, believes Iowa Secretary of Agriculture candidate Francis Thicke is “one of the best candidates we’ve ever had” to lead the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land [...]

Urban Votes Count In Ag Secretary Race

Countdown to Victory: 10 days Fewer than 2 percent of Iowans live on farms. But all of us, Iowa Secretary of Agriclture candidate Francis Thicke points out, eat food, drink water and want lakes, rivers and streams to be clean when we play in them. We all breathe air. Urban votes win elections. Still, we [...]

Pushing Big Ag Away From Your Dinner Table

Countdown to Victory: 10 Days Image by Will Merydith via Flickr With his plan for more sustainable agriculture and more local food production, Francis Thicke is giving voice to a quiet revolution taking place across the country among people who think it’s time to push Big Ag away from the dinner table. It’s been going [...]

Former Commissioner of Agriculture, Texas, Endorses Thicke, Slams Northey

Jim Hightower’s endorsement:

“In Iowa’s election for Secretary of Agriculture, the choice couldn’t be clearer. On one hand you’ve got Francis Thicke, who has worked as a dairy farmer for 27 years, selling his products locally and actually building the economy. On the other hand, you’ve got Bill Northey who has led a team that invested nearly $1 million in Brazil’s ethanol production. In a world where money talks, maybe Bill Northey should be running for Secretary of Agriculture in Brazil.”

Listen To The Secretary of Agriculture Radio Debate

Learn more about the key differences between the candidates. Listen to the debate between Francis Thicke and Bill Northey, recorded on October 7th. Moderated by Kerry Cathcart, the debate was originally webcast on KMGO. Listen to the entire debate: [audio:http://c2494932.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/thicke-northey-debate-2.mp3] Listen to each candidate articulate their vision for agriculture: [audio:http://c2494932.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/debate-2-vision.mp3] Francis Thicke has accepted four [...]

Ag Secretary Candidates to Debate Oct. 7; Event Will be Webcast

Thicke accepted Northey’s invitation to debate Sept. 11 at the Clay County Fair in Spencer, Northey’s home territory. The Thicke campaign reciprocated, inviting Northey to Thicke’s hometown of Fairfield to take questions in a multimedia debate sponsored by the Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce, the Fairfield Ledger and KRUU Radio, all of Fairfield; and KTVO News and the Ottumwa Courier, both of Ottumwa.

Democrat Francis Thicke says Iowa Ag Secretary should step up, take responsibility

Bill Northey denies that he has any authority related to the contaminated eggs, and he has given no indication that he wants authority in this arena.