Corey Hill, Ron Sparks face off in race for commissioner of Agriculture and Industries

In next month’s election for commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, Alabama voters will choose between a mayor and a former state agriculture commissioner.

Republican nominee Corey Hill, the mayor of Douglas in Marshall County, and Democratic nominee Ron Sparks, who served in the office from 2003 to 2011 will face each other in the Nov. 3 general election.

Hill became the Republican nominee after winning the June 16 runoff election against Christina Woerner Mcinnis. Sparks did not have a Democratic opponent.

Sparks said in an interview Wednesday that he was running for the seat because “farmers and people are struggling right now.”

“We’re probably going through some of the toughest times in the history of the state with the prices of diesel fuel, farmers going broke, the prices of fertilizer, they’ve basically destroyed the Department of Agriculture in the last few years,” Sparks said.

Sparks previously served as the commissioner from 2003 until 2011. He cited his efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to crack down on price gouging at gas pumps, and said during the interview he wants to get the department back to how it was when he was in office.

“I don’t think there’s ever been anyone that worked any harder at the Department of Agriculture than I did, and built as good a department as we had,” Sparks said.

Sparks’ priorities include removing the 1.5% sales tax on farm equipment and reinstating state employees as gas inspectors. 

Al.com reported last week that former Alabama Attorney General Troy King, a Republican, endorsed Sparks. Sparks said he wasn’t shocked by the endorsement.

“I have a lot of respect for Troy King, and I certainly appreciate his endorsement. He feels the same way that I feel. I think it’s time for this tribalism and running to our corners and not talking to each other and division to stop.” Sparks said.

Hill said in an interview Wednesday the department can’t be run the same way it was when Sparks was in office.

“My opponent was a Democrat 15 years ago, and that’s a totally different Democratic Party than we have now,” he said. “Totally different mindset, different challenges. The administration’s different. We’ve had COVID since then. The whole department’s different. The economy’s different. It’s got to be a different mindset to run that department than it was. You can’t run it the same way today you did 15 or 20 years ago.”

Hill said he would also work to eliminate the tax on farm equipment. Another one of his priorities is putting Alabama produced food in schools.

“We’re gonna make it to where it’s gonna be easier for us to buy food from Alabama farmers for our schools to feed Alabama kids in our Alabama schools,” Hill said.

Sparks said voters should choose him because of his time in the department.

“When I served as commissioner of agriculture before, I received awards from every ag organization in the state, whether it be ALFA (Alabama Farmers Association), cattlemen, catfish folks, the veterinarian folks,” he said. “The last time I ran for commissioner of agriculture, we won 62 out of 67 counties, and I feel the momentum in this race. And I can assure you, won’t nobody work for farmers and consumers in Alabama any harder than Ron Sparks.”

Hill said he should be elected because of his experience as a farmer.

“Our family has been in the grocery store business for many years, many generations, actually, and so food safety and knowing about the recalls and how to handle food to keep that from happening is very important to us because as a retailer, when those things happen, even if they’re no fault of your own, it affects your business,” Hill said. “So nobody wants that. So handling the food and keeping it safe is something we know a lot about.”

According to campaign finance reports, Hill has raised $581,400 and spent $553,500 and Sparks has raised $153,100 and spent $57,700 as of Wednesday afternoon.