U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop Jr., D-Albany, picked up another endorsement Monday in his tough District 2 re-election bid against Republican challenger Mike Keown of Coolidge.

Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin, Georgia’s longest-serving constitutional officer and the longest-serving commissioner of agriculture in America, has thrown his support behind Bishop’s effort to secure a 10th term in Congress. Irvin, also a Democrat, is retiring when his term expires at the end of December.

“(Bishop) was there pushing back each time folks in Washington tried to balance the nation’s budget on the backs of farmers, when (folks in Washington) attempted to end the compensation to cotton and peanut farmers for storage costs, and when (folks in Washington) held back on selling crops until they could net better market rates,” Irvin,a Democrat, said in his letter of endorsement. “I don’t even want to think where we would be without his work on the various farm bills.

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