North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner election, 2024

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← 2020
North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture
Election details
Filing deadline: December 15, 2023
Primary: March 5, 2024 Primary runoff: May 14, 2024 General: November 5, 2024 Pre-election incumbent(s): Steve Troxler (R)
How to vote
Poll times: 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Voting in North Carolina
Ballotpedia analysis
Federal and state primary competitiveness State executive elections in 2024 Impact of term limits in 2024 State government trifectas State government triplexes Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2024
North Carolina executive elections
Governor Lieutenant Governor Attorney General Secretary of State Auditor Treasurer Superintendent of Public Instruction Labor Commissioner Insurance Commissioner Agriculture Commission

North Carolina is holding an election for agriculture commissioner on November 5, 2024. The primary was March 5, 2024, and a primary runoff was May 14, 2024. The filing deadline was December 15, 2023. The Democratic and Libertarian primaries were canceled after only one candidate filed to run in each primary.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture

Incumbent Steve Troxler, Sarah Taber, and Sean Haugh are running in the general election for North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate
		Steve Troxler (R)
		Sarah Taber (D)
		Sean Haugh (L)

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Sarah Taber advanced from the Democratic primary for North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture

Incumbent Steve Troxler defeated Colby Hammonds in the Republican primary for North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Steve Troxler	69.1	644,720
		Colby Hammonds	30.9	288,347

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 933,067
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Libertarian primary election

The Libertarian primary election was canceled. Sean Haugh advanced from the Libertarian primary for North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture.

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Sarah Taber

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography:  "I’m a crop scientist, a farm operations specialist, an expert in food safety and supply chains, and a successful agricultural businessperson. I’ve helped my clients grow food and farm businesses worth $4 billion. I'm running to revive North Carolina’s rural and agricultural economy so it works for everyone."

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Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

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North Carolina's farmland is rich. There's no reason for our rural areas to be poor. We’re ideal for high-value food crops and we’re close to huge markets that are hungry for them. But our farmers make as little as half the income per acre as farmers in neighboring states. That’s a failure of leadership. Now North Carolina farmers are in a bad spot. Our Commissioner of Agriculture doesn’t provide basic services that farmers in other states take for granted, like encouraging investment in food processing infrastructure that would allow farmers to try new, more profitable crops. That failure of leadership from our 20-year incumbent Commissioner is why, once you account for inflation, our farm sector is shrinking.

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Of the major agricultural states, North Carolina is the most at risk of losing farmland. The way to turn that around is to help farms succeed as food businesses—we grow a lot of crops and raise a lot of livestock, but we don't make many groceries here in NC. We need to invest in the processing facilities and supply chains that help our state's farmers make money from the wide variety of things we can, and already do, grow here. We also need to make sure people can get the loans and insurance they need on fair terms so people with the skills can build the businesses that will carry our agricultural economy into the future.

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Agriculture Commissioner is crucial for the whole state, not just farmers. Three examples: -54% of NC is forest. We’ve got a fast-growing problem with wildfires, but the staffing of our forest service and firefighting units hasn't kept up, putting us all at risk. -Understaffing in the department also means fewer inspectors to make sure grocery store scales and gas pumps are accurate and less support for bringing new crop varieties on line. -The Department has an important role to play in public health and monitoring for potential outbreaks, such as H5N1.

Voting information

See also: Voting in North Carolina

Election information in North Carolina: Nov. 5, 2024, election.

What is the voter registration deadline?

• In-person: Oct. 11, 2024
• By mail: Postmarked by Oct. 11, 2024
• Online: Oct. 11, 2024

Is absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

Yes

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

• In-person: Oct. 29, 2024
• By mail: Received by Oct. 29, 2024
• Online: Oct. 29, 2024

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

• In-person: Nov. 5, 2024
• By mail: Received by Nov. 5, 2024

Is early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What are the early voting start and end dates?

Oct. 17, 2024 to Nov. 2, 2024

Are all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, is a photo or non-photo ID required?

K.A.

When are polls open on Election Day?

6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance

The section and tables below contain data from financial reports submitted to state agencies. The data is gathered and made available by Transparency USA.

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Expand all | Collapse all

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Sarah Taber (D)

North Carolina's farmland is rich. There's no reason for our rural areas to be poor. We’re ideal for high-value food crops and we’re close to huge markets that are hungry for them. But our farmers make as little as half the income per acre as farmers in neighboring states. That’s a failure of leadership.

Now North Carolina farmers are in a bad spot. Our Commissioner of Agriculture doesn’t provide basic services that farmers in other states take for granted, like encouraging investment in food processing infrastructure that would allow farmers to try new, more profitable crops. That failure of leadership from our 20-year incumbent Commissioner is why, once you account for inflation, our farm sector is shrinking.

Of the major agricultural states, North Carolina is the most at risk of losing farmland. The way to turn that around is to help farms succeed as food businesses—we grow a lot of crops and raise a lot of livestock, but we don't make many groceries here in NC. We need to invest in the processing facilities and supply chains that help our state's farmers make money from the wide variety of things we can, and already do, grow here. We also need to make sure people can get the loans and insurance they need on fair terms so people with the skills can build the businesses that will carry our agricultural economy into the future.

Agriculture Commissioner is crucial for the whole state, not just farmers. Three examples:

-54% of NC is forest. We’ve got a fast-growing problem with wildfires, but the staffing of our forest service and firefighting units hasn't kept up, putting us all at risk.

-Understaffing in the department also means fewer inspectors to make sure grocery store scales and gas pumps are accurate and less support for bringing new crop varieties on line.

-The Department has an important role to play in public health and monitoring for potential outbreaks, such as H5N1.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Sarah Taber (D)

Helping businesses succeed by fostering success strategies that benefit workers, protect the air, soil, and water, and help food and farm operations thrive.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

Sarah Taber (D)

This office is called "the Governor of Rural North Carolina" because of the grant funds that flow through it and the important inspection and enforcement practices it oversees. The staff in the Department are dedicated professionals, but the funding of the Department itself has too-long been neglected by the state legislature. We need more funding to be able to hire enough firefighters and forestry professionals, inspectors, extension agents, and researchers to support the safety and prosperity of all of North Carolina.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Sarah Taber (D)

The person in this office has to be able to bring people together around a forward-looking vision for our state and what will help farmers—and all of North Carolina—not just this year but across the next 20 years. Too many of our rural counties are either dropping in population or are being carved up into suburbs. Instead of someone who makes excuses, this office needs a leader who will advocate for agriculture's future and invest in business development, bringing additional crops to market, and helping new people enter farming on fair and manageable terms.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Sarah Taber (D)

In a way, I still have it! I grew up working my family’s small holdings and my family eats crops we grew on our Fayetteville property today. My first paying job was detasseling corn at 14 and I worked field, garment shop, and factory jobs to pay for crop school. After school I became a farm operations specialist. I discovered that I could help working farmers make more money–a lot more money–and my past clients are now worth a total of $4 billion. I've also written and podcasted about our food systems and how to improve them.

What responsibilities of this office do you personally consider the most important?

Sarah Taber (D)

it’s easy to say “We just should do things differently.” Lots of North Carolina farmers are already doing that—experimenting with crops like hemp, upland rice, chestnuts, and more. But there’s more to it than that! Building markets for those crops and infrastructure to move it to the cities is a bigger problem than individual farms can solve. That’s what a Commissioner of Agriculture’s supposed to do: build the operations and markets so whole communities can make a living from this variety. It won’t be one crop or one idea that will pull North Carolina agriculture out of a long, slow slide. But having a change in leadership will make a difference.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Sarah Taber (D)

NC AFL-CIO, Sierra Club, Lillian's List, Communication Workers of America

You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:

• Steve Troxler

Past elections

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2012.

2020

See also: North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner election, 2020

General election candidates

• Steve Troxler  (Incumbent) (Republican Party) ✔
• Jenna Wadsworth  (Democratic Party)

 Democratic primary candidates

• Walter Smith 
• Jenna Wadsworth ✔
• Donovan Alexander Watson 

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= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
 Republican primary candidates

This primary was canceled and this candidate advanced:

• Steve Troxler (Incumbent) ✔

2016

See also: North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner election, 2016

The general election for agriculture commissioner was held on November 8, 2016.

Incumbent Steve Troxler defeated Walter Smith in the North Carolina agriculture commissioner election.

North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Steve Troxler Incumbent	55.62%	2,498,988
	Democratic	Walter Smith	44.38%	1,994,038
Total Votes				4,493,026
Source: ABC11

2012

See also: North Carolina down ballot state executive elections, 2012

Incumbent Steve Troxler (R) successfully won re-election, defeating Walter Smith (D) in the November 6, 2012 general election.

North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Walter Smith	46.8%	2,025,054
	Republican	Steve Troxler Incumbent	53.2%	2,303,586
Total Votes				4,328,640
Election results via NC State Board of Elections

Election analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about demographics, past elections, and partisan control of the state.

• Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the state.
• Statewide elections - Information about recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections in the state.
• State partisanship - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.
• Demographics - Information about the state's demographics and how they compare to the country as a whole.

• Presidential elections
• Statewide elections
• State partisanship
• Demographics

See also: Presidential voting trends in North Carolina and The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Cook PVI by congressional district

Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index for North Carolina, 2024
District	Incumbent	Party	PVI
North Carolina's 1st	Donald Davis	Democratic	R+1
North Carolina's 2nd	Deborah Ross	Democratic	D+15
North Carolina's 3rd	Gregory Murphy	Republican	R+11
North Carolina's 4th	Valerie Foushee	Democratic	D+21
North Carolina's 5th	Virginia Foxx	Republican	R+10
North Carolina's 6th	Kathy Manning	Democratic	R+11
North Carolina's 7th	David Rouzer	Republican	R+8
North Carolina's 8th	Dan Bishop	Republican	R+11
North Carolina's 9th	Richard Hudson	Republican	R+9
North Carolina's 10th	Patrick McHenry	Republican	R+10
North Carolina's 11th	Chuck Edwards	Republican	R+8
North Carolina's 12th	Alma Adams	Democratic	D+23
North Carolina's 13th	Wiley Nickel	Democratic	R+11
North Carolina's 14th	Jeff Jackson	Democratic	R+11

2020 presidential results by 2024 congressional district lines

2020 presidential results in congressional districts based on 2024 district lines, North Carolina
District	Joe Biden	Donald Trump
North Carolina's 1st	50.4%	48.8%
North Carolina's 2nd	66.9%	31.5%
North Carolina's 3rd	40.7%	58.0%
North Carolina's 4th	72.4%	26.2%
North Carolina's 5th	41.8%	57.2%
North Carolina's 6th	41.2%	57.5%
North Carolina's 7th	43.9%	54.9%
North Carolina's 8th	40.6%	58.3%
North Carolina's 9th	42.4%	56.3%
North Carolina's 10th	41.4%	57.4%
North Carolina's 11th	43.8%	54.8%
North Carolina's 12th	74.4%	24.2%
North Carolina's 13th	40.7%	57.9%
North Carolina's 14th	41.4%	57.5%

2012-2020

How a state's counties vote in a presidential election and the size of those counties can provide additional insights into election outcomes at other levels of government including statewide and congressional races. Below, four categories are used to describe each county's voting pattern over the 2012, 2016, and 2020 presidential elections: Solid, Trending, Battleground, and New. Click [show] on the table below for examples:

County-level voting pattern categories
Democratic
Status	2012	2016	2020
Solid Democratic	D	D	D
Trending Democratic	R	D	D
Battleground Democratic	D	R	D
New Democratic	R	R	D
Republican
Status	2012	2016	2020
Solid Republican	R	R	R
Trending Republican	D	R	R
Battleground Republican	R	D	R
New Republican	D	D	R

Following the 2020 presidential election, 47.1% of North Carolinians lived in one of the state's 22 Solid Democratic counties, which voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in every election from 2012 to 2020, and 46.3% lived in one of 68 Solid Republican counties. Overall, North Carolina was Solid Republican, having voted for Mitt Romney (R) in 2012, Donald Trump (R) in 2016, and Donald Trump (R) in 2020. Use the table below to view the total number of each type of county in North Carolina following the 2020 election as well as the overall percentage of the state population located in each county type.

North Carolina county-level statistics, 2020
Solid Democratic	22	47.1%
Solid Republican	68	46.3%
Trending Republican	6	2.7%
New Democratic	1	2.2%
Battleground Democratic	1	0.9%
Trending Democratic	1	0.5%
New Republican	1	0.3%
Total voted Democratic	25	50.7%
Total voted Republican	75	49.3%

Historical voting trends

North Carolina presidential election results (1900-2020)

• 18 Democratic wins
• 13 Republican wins

Year	1900	1904	1908	1912	1916	1920	1924	1928	1932	1936	1940	1944	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020
Winning Party	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	R	R	R

This section details the results of the five most recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections held in the state.

U.S. Senate elections

See also: List of United States Senators from North Carolina

The table below details the vote in the five most recent U.S. Senate races in North Carolina.

U.S. Senate election results in North Carolina
Race	Winner	Runner up
2022	50.5%	47.3%
2020	48.7%	46.9%
2016	51.1%	45.3%
2014	48.8%	47.3%
2010	55.0%	42.9%
Average	51.3	45.3

Gubernatorial elections

See also: Governor of North Carolina

The table below details the vote in the five most recent gubernatorial elections in North Carolina.

Gubernatorial election results in North Carolina
Race	Winner	Runner up
2020	51.5%	47.0%
2016	49.0%	48.8%
2012	54.6%	43.2%
2008	50.3%	46.9%
2004	55.6%	42.9%
Average	52.2	45.8

See also: Party control of North Carolina state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of North Carolina's congressional delegation as of May 2024.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from North Carolina
Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	0	7	7
Republican	2	7	9
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	0	0
Total	2	14	16

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in North Carolina's top four state executive offices as of May 2024.

State executive officials in North Carolina, May 2024
Office	Officeholder
Governor	Roy Cooper
Lieutenant Governor	Mark Robinson
Secretary of State	Elaine Marshall
Attorney General	Josh Stein

State legislature

North Carolina State Senate

Party		As of February 2024
	Democratic Party	20
	Republican Party	30
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total		50

North Carolina House of Representatives

Party		As of February 2024
	Democratic Party	48
	Republican Party	72
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total		120

Trifecta control

The table below shows the state's trifecta status from 1992 until 2024.

North Carolina Party Control: 1992-2024
Fourteen years of Democratic trifectas  •  Four years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Governor	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
Senate	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

The table below details demographic data in North Carolina and compares it to the broader United States as of 2022.

Demographic Data for North Carolina
	North Carolina	Vereinigte Staaten
Population	10,439,388	331,449,281
Land area (sq mi)	48,623	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White	65%	65.9%
Black/African American	20.9%	12.5%
Asian	3.1%	5.8%
Native American	1%	0.8%
Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more	5.9%	8.8%
Hispanic/Latino	10%	18.7%
Bildung
High school graduation rate	89.4%	89.1%
College graduation rate	33.9%	34.3%
Income
Median household income	$66,186	$75,149
Persons below poverty level	9.5%	8.8%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2017-2022).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• North Carolina agriculture commissioner official website