Trump Narrows Field for Ag Secretary

Former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue is President-elect Donald Trump’s likely candidate to run the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a senior member of Trump’s transition team said this week.

Perdue, a Democrat-turned-Republican who founded a grain and fertilizer business, served on Trump’s agricultural advisory committee during his campaign.

The position is one of the few remaining posts Trump must fill.

Perdue, 70, served two terms as Georgia’s governor from 2003 to 2011. He became the state’s first Republican governor since 1871, according to the National Governors Association.

After finishing his second term, Perdue founded Perdue Partners, a global trading firm that consults and provides services for companies looking to export products.

Trump had been meeting with a number of other possible candidates for secretary of agriculture, including Elsa Murano, undersecretary of agriculture for food safety under President George W. Bush, and Chuck Conner, head of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives.

He has also met with Abel Maldonado, former lieutenant governor of California and co-owner of Runway Vineyards; U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp, (R-Kan.); and Sid Miller, Texas agriculture commissioner.  Source: Reuters