Kansas Lawmaker Who Opposed Farm Bill Faces Blowback
- Huelskamp’s committee ouster left state voiceless on policy
- Growers of beef, sorghum and sunflowers find a new champion
At right, Representative Tim Huelskamp speaks near the Supreme Court on April 28, 2015, in Washington.
Photographer: Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesKansas farmers are taking on some of America’s most powerful conservative interests in an attempt to oust U.S. Representative Tim Huelskamp, a Tea Party favorite kicked off the House Agriculture Committee for ideological rigidity.
The Club for Growth and the Koch brothers, whose Koch Industries Inc. is based in Wichita, are backing Huelskamp, who opposed a farm bill providing crop insurance farmers deem vital -- which former Speaker John Boehner backed. For farmers, little means more than Huelskamp’s opposition to the bill and loss of his committee seat, marking the end of almost a century of Kansas representation. Agribusiness groups support Republican primary challenger Roger Marshall, an obstetrician who says regaining the state’s voice on farm matters is his first priority.