Results are almost finalized for the General Election, but Kodiak Island farmers still have another election to vote in.
Two Alaskans are running for one seat on the southern Farm Service Agency County Committee.
The group, which represents a large portion of southwestern Alaska in local administrative area 1 that stretches from the Bethel census area to the Aleutian Islands and Kodiak Island, works in coordination with the U.S Department of Agriculture.
Hazen Kazaks, the county executive director for the southern county with the Farm Service Agency, said whoever wins the election will have a say in agriculture decisions at the state and potentially federal level.
There are at least three total members on the southern county committee and Kazaks said most years it’s been difficult to find farmers or growers who are interested in being a county committee member.
“And then they also have some authority to interpret policy in a way that I, as the county executive director, I don’t have,” Kazaks explained.
This year, two candidates are running for one committee seat to represent the entire area.
Rebecca Dawn, who claims residency on Spruce Island – just north of Kodiak, has worked with the agency for more than ten years. According to her bio, Dawn previously received federal grants to support hoop house farming projects in the area.
She is running against Ina Jones of Homer. According to Jones’ bio, she and her family have been raising cattle for decades; in Kachemak Bay since 1959. She also grows peonies commercially at her farm in East End Homer.
Kazaks said this election is only open to voters who participate in Farm Service Agency programs, or are agricultural producers who live in the region.
“So be specific to that region of southwest Alaska, including Kodiak Island, and the southern half of the Kenai Peninsula. So that’s why Homer is involved in this particular election," he said. "And then they have to be of legal voting age, so over 18 years old.”
Eligible voters should have received ballots in the mail earlier this month starting on Nov. 4. Kazaks said those need to be mailed back to the Farm Service Agency in Palmer by Dec. 2 in order to be counted.
If an agricultural grower does not receive a ballot in the mail and believes they should be eligible to vote in this county committee election, then you can contact the main FSA office in Palmer.
The winning county committee member will take their seat in January, 2025.
