Ten years ago, Republican U.S. Sen. John Boozman faced a challenge from a Democratic rival who portrayed the lawmaker as out of touch with Arkansas and too aligned with Donald Trump.
His challenger, Conner Eldridge, brought in then-Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota to campaign for him. Heitkamp, a Democrat who sat on the Agriculture Committee with Boozman, talked up Eldridge’s candidacy.
Then reporters asked her what she thought of Boozman.
“I love John Boozman. He’s a great guy,” she said.
It was the kind of exchange that made Democrats in Arkansas cringe: a surrogate professing her admiration of the incumbent they were hoping to defeat.
But it was also an example of one of Boozman’s strengths. An unassuming figure who speaks in a near-whisper, Boozman is known more for congeniality than combativeness. That has earned him the respect of Democratic lawmakers, no small feat in an increasingly polarized Washington.
Boozman’s reputation as someone who’s built up relationships is being put to the test. The third-term lawmaker who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee faces an uphill battle to advance the Farm Bill that’s in jeopardy over a fight about cuts to the nation’s food stamp program.
The massive legislation crafted by Boozman stalled before the Agriculture Committee over a dispute about when states will shoulder a share of costs from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Boozman, who recessed the committee, said he remains optimistic that the bill will move forward and can win the 60 votes needed in the Senate. But he admits to frustration over the dispute.
“I’m a guy that’s pretty low key and pretty good at working with people to get things done,” Boozman said. “And we’ve worked really hard to get this done. Farmers desperately need it.”
Fewer states need it more than Arkansas, which led the nation in farm bankruptcies last year and where farmers have been bearing the brunt of Trump’s trade wars.
But concerns about farmers’ plight are also running up against worries about the additional costs states will face for SNAP under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that Trump signed last year.
Beginning in October 2027, states will have to pay for part of SNAP if their payment error rates are in excess of 6%. Democrats and advocacy groups have warned of the harms the cost shift will have on low-income Americans and most states.
They had urged a two-year delay in the cost shift. Boozman amended the bill to instead extend the deadline for a year, but that wasn’t enough to get the bill out of committee.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the top Democrat on the committee, noted that the bill as written would advantage high-error states over ones with mid-level error rates. A two-year-delay would give states equal footing to work out their error rates.
Boozman said time is running out but he’s hopeful that the recess will give Democratic senators a chance to see support for the measure.
“I hope that after people are home visiting with their constituents, visiting with their farmers, visiting with their states…that the Democrats will vote for the bill,” he said.
His office has pointed to support that groups in Boozman’s home state like the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance has offered for the compromise.
Another hopeful sign for Boozman is how Democratic Senate hopefuls in conservative states have split with their own party on the legislation. They include state Rep. Joshua Turek, the party’s nominee for a U.S. Senate seat in Iowa.
In Arkansas, Senate Democratic nominee Hallie Shoffner said she would have voted the bill out of committee if she had been on the panel.
“To be clear, this Farm Bill is insufficient. But it is something,” Shoffner, who is running against Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, said in a statement after the vote.
But none of that may be enough to ensure the bill will eventually get the Democratic votes it needs to pass. Democrats have valid concerns about the impact of the SNAP changes and have reasonable worries that a one-year extension isn’t enough. But it’s hard to see a compromise on the issue that wouldn’t risk losing some Republican support.
The Farm Bill used to be a bipartisan undertaking that would unite various causes, but that has fractured like so many other aspects of Washington politics. Finding a way out of the stalemate may be more than anyone can expect in the Trump era, but Boozman’s style may be the best suited to give it a try.
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