Most in agriculture are lamenting the loss of House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., in Tuesday's election, bringing to a close his 30 years of representing the Minnesota district. That is a district that Peterson won in 1990 by defeating another long-serving incumbent — Rep. Arlen Stangeland, R-Minn.
On the Senate side, members running for re-election will return in 2021.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., easily won re-election while Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, held off challenger Theresa Greenfield to win another term in the Senate. The race was hard-fought and saw Republicans link Greenfield to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., while Democrats sought to paint Ernst as having “gone Washington.”
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., was declared the winner over former USDA Secretary Mike Espy with 66% of the vote counted. She held a margin of 58.1% to Espy's 39.9%.
One of Georgia's Senate seats appears headed to a runoff as neither Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler nor Democratic challenger candidate Raphael Warnock were able to capture 50% of the vote. Republican Doug Collins has already conceded in his challenge of Loeffler and that could point to more support for Loeffler in the expected January 5 runoff.
Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., was declared the winner in her bid to return to the chamber, with 48.9% of the vote to 43.5% for Republican challenger Jason Lewis.
Not returning, of course, is Senate Ag Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, who opted not to seek re-election.