Joshua Svaty (; born November 7, 1979) is an American politician, farmer, and businessman from
Kansas. He announced his bid for the
2018 Kansas gubernatorial election
The 2018 Kansas gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the next Governor of Kansas. Democratic nominee Laura Kelly won the election, defeating Republican nominee Kris Kobach and independent candidate Greg Orman.
Incum ...
as a
Democrat on May 16, 2017.
In 2002, at the age of 22, Svaty was elected to the
Kansas House of Representatives and served until he was appointed secretary of the
Kansas Department of Agriculture by Governor
Mark Parkinson on July 14, 2009. After leaving office in 2011, Svaty served as the Vice President of
The Land Institute
The Land Institute is an American nonprofit research, education, and policy organization dedicated to sustainable agriculture, based in Salina, Kansas. Their goal is to develop an agricultural system based on perennial crops that "has the ecolo ...
, a nonprofit agricultural research entity near
Salina. He and his wife own a farm in
Ellsworth County, Kansas.
Education
Svaty received his undergraduate degree from
Sterling College, a small liberal arts college in
Sterling, Kansas.
He later attended
Washburn University School of Law in
Topeka, Kansas, partly during his term in the
Kansas House of Representatives.
Career
Campaign for Governor
Since announcing he was running for Governor of Kansas in May 2017, Svaty visited all 105 Kansas counties as part of his campaign trail, traveling over 16,701 miles and counting.
In May 2018, Svaty announced his running mate for
lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
to be Katrina Lewison, a Manhattan-Ogden USD 383 Board of Education member and former
Blackhawk helicopter
The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift utility military helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky submitted the S-70 design for the United States Army's Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System ( ...
pilot.
House of Representatives
Svaty was first elected to the
Kansas House of Representatives at the age of 22.
Svaty started his term on January 8, 2003 as a representative of the 108th district, which consisted of
Ellsworth County
Ellsworth County (county code EW) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 6,376. Its county seat and most populous city is Ellsworth.
History
Early history
From the 16th century t ...
, rural
Saline County, parts of south
Salina, and
Solomon
Solomon (; , ),, ; ar, سُلَيْمَان, ', , ; el, Σολομών, ; la, Salomon also called Jedidiah (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Modern Hebrew, Modern: , Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yăḏīḏăyāh'', "beloved of Yahweh, Yah"), ...
in
Dickinson County.
Svaty, a member of the
Democratic Party, was elected in a district in which the
Republican Party
Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party.
Republican Party may also refer to:
Africa
*Republican Party (Liberia)
* Republican Part ...
held a 2-to-1 registration advantage.
He was re-elected to his House seat three times.
Committee membership
* Energy and Utilities
* Agriculture and Natural Resources (Ranking Member)
* Joint Committee on Energy and Environmental Policy
Major donors
The top 5 donors to Svaty's 2008 campaign:
*1.
AT&T $1,500
*2. Kansas National Education Assoc $1,000
*3. Kansas Medical Society $1,000
*4. Kansas Contractors Assoc $1,000
*5. Pioneer Communications $1,000
Secretary of Agriculture
Governor Mark Parkinson appointed Svaty as the
Kansas Secretary of Agriculture in 2009.
He served in this role from 2009-2011.
EPA
Svaty served as senior advisor to the regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 7 for more than two years, following his time as the Secretary of Agriculture.
The Land Institute
Svaty served as the vice president of The Land Institute, a science-based research organization based in Saline County that is working on developing perennial grain crops, before he returned to farming in Ellsworth County.
He left The Land Institute in 2015 to focus fully on Free State Farms.
Free State Farms
Svaty and his wife, Kimberly, own and operate Free State Farms, a crop and livestock operation in Ellsworth County.
Free State Farms was formed in 2010 and is a fully diversified operation that includes wheat, sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers, and a cow/calf operation.
References
External links
Campaign websiteKansas Department of AgricultureProject Vote Smart profileKansas Votes profileState Surge - Legislative and voting track record* Campaign contributions
200220042008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Svaty, Joshua
1979 births
Kansas lawyers
Kansas Secretaries of Agriculture
Living people
Democratic Party members of the Kansas House of Representatives
People from Ellsworth, Kansas
Washburn University alumni
21st-century American lawyers
21st-century American politicians
Sterling College alumni
Candidates in the 2018 United States elections