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Special to the Signal

Rick Pate, mayor of Lowndesboro since 1997 and president of Pate Landscape Co., Inc., has announced his candidacy for Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries.

Pate, a cattleman and successful businessman, said, “I’m running for ag commissioner to help the agribusiness community in our state flourish.”

Pate said. “I’m a lifelong Republican, and I want to use conservative values to protect the largest sector of Alabama’s economy from undo regulations, taxes and fees put on them by career politicians in Montgomery and Washington, D.C.”

Pate is endorsed by the Associated General Contractors and supported by the Alabama Cattlemen’s PAC. He is vice chairman of the Lowndes County Republican Party and serves on the ALGOP Steering Committee. He is active in Rotary District 6880, the Southeastern Livestock Exposition and Lowndesboro Baptist Church. He is a member of the Alabama Farmers Federation, Montgomery Chamber of Commerce, Alabama Wildlife Federation and Business Council of Alabama.

“I’m thinking about the future of the planet, for my children and the generations to come,” Pate said. “It is estimated that by 2050 we will have to double food production to meet the needs of the world – it will take visionary leaders who understand that we have to work smarter, not just harder, to achieve these goals. As the mayor of a small town in rural Lowndes County I have been successful at applying business principles to government.”

Pate is a 1978 graduate of Auburn University, is married to the former Julie Dismukes of Autauga County, and they have two sons, Richard, who works in the international division of a large construction firm, and James, who has been accepted to medical school.

His family has Pate Charolais, a working cattle farm and breeding operation.