Two Republicans want to be called farmers on the ballot. Democrats say they’re not
BY KATE IRBY AND EMILY CADEI, The Sacramento Bee
August 21, 2018 10:51 AM
WASHINGTON
Reps. Jeff Denham and Devin Nunes say they’re farmers, and that’s how they’re going to be described on this fall’s California election ballots.
But are they farmers?
Democrats say no, and they’re trying to stop them from labeling themselves that way. The party is mounting legal challenges to California Republicans in the San Joaquin Valley over their using the word “farmer.”
Farmer is a popular ballot description among those representing the San Joaquin Valley, used by Denham, Nunes, Rep. David Valadao, a Republican, and Rep. Jim Costa, a Democrat. Democrat groups want to force Denham and Nunes to take that description off the ballot.
California’s election code allows candidates to include a three-word description of their “current principal professions, vocations, or occupations,” or one they held in the previous year, beneath their name on the ballot.
