Sen. Chris Coons should stay put for poultry sector’s sake

Even before Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election, a name that was commonly thrown out as a possible cabinet pick was Sen. Chris Coons.

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Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, speaks at the National Chicken Council's 65th Annual Conference. (Austin Alonzo)
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, speaks at the National Chicken Council's 65th Annual Conference. (Austin Alonzo)

Even before Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election, a name that was commonly thrown out as a possible cabinet pick was Sen. Chris Coons.

It makes perfect sense that he might be under consideration, as the two know each other well, they seem to have similar political visions, and both are Democrats from Delaware. When Biden gave up his U.S. Senate seat to become vice president under President Barack Obama in 2009, Ted Kaufman temporarily filled that spot until a special election, in which Coons won the seat. Coons has been serving in that capacity ever since.

Following Biden’s acceptance speech on November 7, the news channel I was watching at the time interviewed Coons. The inevitable question came up: Would Coons consider being a member of the Biden cabinet? He gave a predictable politically correct answer, saying he would be honored to continue to serve his country in either capacity.

I don’t necessarily think Coons would be a bad pick for a cabinet position, but I sure hope he isn’t nominated for one. Why? Because his leadership is needed in the Senate.

Coons’ political views are clearly consistent with those of the Democratic party and I don’t always agree with him, but he is the kind of senator we need. He has a reputation of being one of the rare senators who sees value in reaching across the aisle for the greater good. And following the incident at the 2019 World Series, when President Trump was shown on the jumbo screen and baseball fans started chanting “Lock Him Up,” Coons was one of the few Democrats to publicly say that the display wasn’t cool, and that he wished that wouldn’t have happened.

But probably more important to WATTPoultry.com readers, Coons has shown his support for nonpartisanship in support of the U.S. poultry industry.

He has been a co-chairman of the bipartisan Senate Chicken Caucus since its inception in 2013. He first served as co-chairman with Johnny Isakson, but following Isakson’s retirement from the U.S. Senate in 2019, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi has been the co-chair.

Coons understands the issues germane to the poultry industry and has proven to show that interest appearing at and speaking at several industry events.

If Coons were to leave the Senate, it would behoove his successor to also be a strong supporter of the poultry industry for political survivability purposes. But we have all seen elected officials chose to side with their party rather than an industry that is strong in their state. There are no guarantees, especially when you get someone new.

While it remains unknown if Coons will be given an option to choose between being a senator or a cabinet member, I’d hope he chooses to stay in the Senate. The poultry industry needs a senator like him.

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