10 candidates took part in debate Thursday evening
By Diego Flammini, Farms.com
All of the 17 candidates for the Republican nomination in the upcoming American presidential election took part in the first televised debate of the presidential campaign.
10 of the candidates leading in the polls took part in a primetime debate and the remaining seven held their own debate before the televised event.
Issues including immigration, military activity, treatment of veterans and climate change took center stage during the debate.
While those issues are important, where do agricultural subsidies fit into the agendas of some of the candidates?
Candidate | Current Title | Position on Agricultural Subsidies |
| Chris Christie | Governor of New Jersey | Signed legislation in 2011 that provided $90.6 million in grants for farmland preservation |
| Ted Cruz | Texas Senator | Voted in favor of limiting the amount of subsidy provided by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation on anyone with a gross income of more than $750,000 |
| Mike Huckabee | Former Governor of Arkansas | While attending the Iowa Agriculture Summit in March, he said support for ethanol helps reduce need for oil imports |
| John Kasich | Governor of Ohio | In 1996, voted in favor to phase out price support programs for peanuts and sugar, but voted against a similiar movement for dairy products. In 1997, voted in favor of preventing funds from being used to subsidize crop insurance for tobacco |
| Rand Paul | Kentucky Senator | According to the Wall Street Journal, he doesn't support the government telling consumers what kind of fuel they must use or sell when it comes to ethanol |
| Scott Walker | Governor of Wisconsin | Introduced "Grow Wisconsin Dairy Processor Grant" in 2014 |
| Marco Rubio | Florida Senator | Voted against the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013, which "amends the Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program, repeals direct payments to farmers and amends crop insurance programs". |
| Jeb Bush | Former Governor of Florida | Supports the Tans-Pacific Partnership. He said it can create jobs and new opportunities for American farmers |
| Donald Trump | Businessman | In 2012, Trump said he would take the government out of providing farm subsidies |
| Ben Carson | Retired neurosurgeon | During a visit to Iowa in May 2015, he said he would be in favor of spending money on new ethanol fuelling stations |
Here are some of the agricultural subsidy views from some of the remaining seven Republican candidates.
Carly Fiorina (Former head of Hewlett Packard)
- In March 2015, she proposed phasing out all subsidies, saying they must be done at the same time to prevent any one state or industry from being disadvantaged.
Lindsey Graham (South Carolina Senator)
- Voted in favor of the 2014 Farm Bill.
Bobby Jindal (Governor of Louisiana)
- While campaigning to be Governor in 2003, he argued that sugar tariffs must be saved so that Latin American farmers don’t bring cheap sugar into the United States.
George Pataki (Former Governor of New York)
- At the Iowa Ag Summit in March 2015, Pataki said he supports ethanol, but the Renewable Fuel Standard should be phased out.
Rick Perry (Former Governor of Texas)
- While at the Iowa Ag Summit in March 2015, he implied that agricultural subsidies should be decided at the state level.
Rick Santorum (Former Pennsylvania Senator)
- In 2012, he proposed ending most agricultural subsidies within four years.
The first debate for the Democratic candidates will take place on Tuesday, October 13th.