State Sen. Jack Williams, R-Wilmer, made official this week his 2026 bid to be the state’s next commissioner of agriculture and industries.
Williams is in his second Senate term and served two terms in the Alabama House.
He’s been traveling the state campaigning for ag commissioner for the better part of the year, telling Alabama Daily News in early 2024 he was running.
Current Commissioner Rick Pate is term limited and running for lieutenant governor.
“I’m concerned about the state of our agribusiness in Alabama,” Williams said in a written statement about why he’s running. “I look around today and I wonder, who is going to be growing crops and herding cattle a decade from now. The average farmer in our state is 60-years-old and most are just one bad season away from total collapse, and that’s not right. America, and Alabama, must stand independent and provide for citizens and without international dependence and I want to do everything within my power to protect our farmers and preserve Alabama’s food source.”
Other announced candidates are Douglas Mayor and farmer Corey Hill and Baldwin County business owner Christina Woerner McInnis.
The GOP primary is May 19, 2026.
Williams is a fourth-generation farmer from Mobile County and said he fully supports President Donald Trump’s tariff efforts.
“The president is on the right track in this levy of agricultural tariffs against other countries,” Williams said. “The imported beef and crops from communist countries and those without significant labor costs are killing the American farmer. In south Alabama, the international seafood imports are destroying our seafood business. In the central parts of our state, the catfish farmers are being impacted by the foreign competition and the list goes on and on. In some cases, the
foreign products might be cheaper for the consumer in some instances but cheaper is not always better. We are sacrificing quality and we are risking losing America’s independence of essential food sources.”