By Julie Murphree, Via Arizona Farm Bureau
It’s an election year! This means we’ll need to take the time to review the numerous candidates asking for our vote. In the days and weeks ahead, we’ll hear their messages, pre-planned sound-bites and debate statements. But, will we really get to know them?
The four candidates we are about to profile here — Tiffany Shedd, Sine Kerr, Tim Dunn and David Cook — have a unique but common story: they are all currently in and from agriculture. Many of you know them; they know us, or at least the Farm Bureau family because every one of them is a Farm Bureau member.
We also asked these four “aggie” candidates the same question: What does your experience in agriculture bring to your candidate profile?
So, let’s get to know our fellow aggie candidates.
Tiffany Shedd, Candidate for Congress in Congressional District 1
Tiffany Shedd has roots in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District dating back over 100 years thanks to her family heritage. A farmer, small business attorney, firearms instructor, and mother of three, she is running for Congress to bring rural Arizona values to Washington, DC.
Shedd has spent decades as a fierce advocate for rural Arizona. She and her husband, Rodney, have farmed cotton and wheat since 1989 on the farm they own in Eloy. Shedd has served as a producer on the boards of various commodity advocacy groups, charitable organizations, and has successfully advocated for the private property rights for agricultural landowners.
Always proud to identify as a rural Arizonan, Shedd is an avid shooter and firearms enthusiast. She and her husband established the Central Arizona Target Shooting range in Pinal County to promote youth shooting sports. She is a 4-H certified youth pistol instructor, as well as an NRA-certified youth shotgun instructor. Shedd is a strong and prominent defender of 2nd Amendment rights.
With deep roots in the 1st congressional district and a lifetime of service to her rural Arizona community, Shedd hopes to shed light on some unique aspects of rural America and seek improved economic development for the district.
Says Shedd: I have been farming with my husband for almost three decades. This experience brings to my candidacy the lessons of family teamwork, not making excuses but figuring out how to get things done, hard work, faith that if you do the next right thing you will have a bountiful harvest, optimism, and that perfection can be the enemy of progress. Being surrounded by people who are stewards of the land has taught me that we must manage our natural resources to survive and prosper. That there is nothing Americans cannot accomplish if the government stays out of the way; that producers should be rewarded not punished.