Farm Progress

House candidate Dennis Wolff says he’ll return to farming after failed congressional bid.

Chris Torres, Editor, American Agriculturist

November 9, 2018

2 Min Read
FAILED BID: Dennis Wolff, a dairy farmer from Columbia County and former Pennsylvania secretary of agriculture, lost his congressional race Tuesday. He says he intends to return to dairy farming.

Many Northeast and Mid-Atlantic members of the House and Senate's agriculture committees were up for re-election in this week's midterm election, but only one lost their re-election bid.

In Pennsylvania, incumbent Republican Glenn "GT" Thompson, the current vice chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, defeated Democrat Susan Boser in the redrawn 15th District.

Other House ag committee members from the region winning re-election were Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, Ann Kuster of New Hampshire, Sean Patrick Maloney of New York and Dwight Evans of Pennsylvania.

John Faso, a Republican in New York's 19th District who also sits on the House ag committee, lost his re-election bid to Democrat Antonio Delgado.

Two Northeast members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry — Democrat Robert Casey of Pennsylvania and Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand of New York — won their re-election bids.

Governors
Every state in the region except for Delaware and New Jersey had a governor's race. Here are the winners by state:

• Connecticut: Democrat Ned Lamont over Republican Bob Stefanowski.

• Maine: Democrat Janet Mills over Republican Shawn Moody.

• Maryland: incumbent Republican Larry Hogan over Democrat Ben Jealous.

• Massachusetts: incumbent Republican Charlie Baker over Democrat Jay Gonzalez.

• New Hampshire: incumbent Republican Chris Sununu over Democrat Molly Kelly.

• New York: incumbent Democrat Andrew Cuomo over Republican Marcus Molinaro.

• Pennsylvania: incumbent Democrat Tom Wolf over Republican Scott Wagner.

• Rhode Island: incumbent Democrat Gina Raimondo over Republican Allan Fung.

• Vermont: incumbent Republican Phil Scott over Democrat Christine Hallquist.

Another notable House race was in Pennsylvania. Dennis Wolff, a dairy farmer and former secretary of agriculture in the state, was hoping voters would "send a farmer to Congress" but that didn't happen.

Wolff, a Democrat, lost his congressional bid to Republican Dan Meuser in Pennsylvania's redrawn 9th District.

Reached by phone early Wednesday, Wolff says he was disappointed by the result and does not plan on running for public office again anytime soon.

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BIG TURNOUT: This week’s midterm elections saw heavy turnout, including in many rural areas.

"It's one of those things, you work on it for 14 months and I think that the voting public voted to support President Trump's agenda," he says. "I just couldn't pry enough of them away."

Wolff was appointed secretary of agriculture by former Gov. Ed Rendell in 2003. He served as secretary until 2009 when he joined the ag lobbying firm Versant Strategies.

Wolff was a 1994 Master Farmer and owns Pen-Col Farm, a Millville dairy farm that is known for its work in specialized genetics.

He says that he will return to the farm full time and continue ramping up the farm's genetics, but he has no regrets running for office.

"I feel like we had a good relationship with farmers. I was hoping to get more support from areas where the rural economy depends on agriculture. The voters made their voices heard and I have to respect that," he says.

About the Author(s)

Chris Torres

Editor, American Agriculturist

Chris Torres, editor of American Agriculturist, previously worked at Lancaster Farming, where he started in 2006 as a staff writer and later became regional editor. Torres is a seven-time winner of the Keystone Press Awards, handed out by the Pennsylvania Press Association, and he is a Pennsylvania State University graduate.

Torres says he wants American Agriculturist to be farmers' "go-to product, continuing the legacy and high standard (former American Agriculturist editor) John Vogel has set." Torres succeeds Vogel, who retired after 47 years with Farm Progress and its related publications.

"The news business is a challenging job," Torres says. "It makes you think outside your small box, and you have to formulate what the reader wants to see from the overall product. It's rewarding to see a nice product in the end."

Torres' family is based in Lebanon County, Pa. His wife grew up on a small farm in Berks County, Pa., where they raised corn, soybeans, feeder cattle and more. Torres and his wife are parents to three young boys.

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