From Farm to Campaign Trail: Arkansas Farmer Runs for U.S. Senate

Hallie Shoffner spent years working her family's farm in Arkansas, land that had been in her family for more than 150 years. But last year, rising costs and shrinking profits forced her to sell off almost everything — tractors, tools, and equipment. Now the 39-year-old mother is channeling that heartbreak into a run for the U.S. Senate, hoping her story will connect with struggling farmers across the state.

Shoffner is running as a Democrat against Republican Senator Tom Cotton in Arkansas. Winning won't be easy. No Democrat has won a federal office or the governorship of Arkansas since 2010, and Cotton has been in Congress since 2013. He also has far more campaign money — nearly $10 million compared to Shoffner's roughly $900,000. Three major election analysis groups rate the race as safely Republican.

Still, Shoffner believes the problems facing farmers could change some minds. She is one of at least 30 candidates across the country with farming or ranching backgrounds who are running for federal office this year. Many of them are Democrats or independents trying to unseat Republicans in rural areas.

Farming in the United States has become very difficult over the past several years. It started when President Donald Trump placed tariffs — extra taxes on goods from other countries — on Chinese products. China fired back with its own tariffs on American crops, which hurt demand. Then came COVID-19, wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and higher prices for seeds, fertilizer, and fuel. Farmers also had to pay more to borrow money because interest rates went up.

American farm debt is now expected to reach about $625 billion this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That is nearly 18% more than in 2019. Experts say this is one of the worst times for farmers since the 1980s, when many lost their farms to foreclosures and bankruptcies. Arkansas, the top rice-producing state in the country, has been hit especially hard.

Shoffner grew up on her family's farm, about 90 miles northeast of Little Rock. Her great-granduncle built the farmhouse in 1901, and the land had survived floods, droughts, and major changes in farming technology over the decades. After college and a career working for non-profit organizations, she came home in 2015 when her father was diagnosed with dementia. By 2017, she was running the farm herself.

For a while, things went well. She grew rice, corn, and soybeans and says she loved the work. But by the summer of 2024, costs had soared and profits had nearly disappeared. She sat in the old farmhouse running numbers on spreadsheets, trying to find a way to keep going. The only plan that seemed possible would mean farming just 500 acres — about a quarter of what the family once planted. Even that plan required a nearly $1 million loan, with her family's land and savings as collateral, which felt too risky.

She called her parents. Then she called an auctioneer. Over two weeks in March 2025, she sold tractors, tires, scrap metal, and more. One tractor alone sold for $130,500. In the end, she made just over $1 million — but still isn't sure if it was enough to cover all of her family's bills.

After the sale, Shoffner posted about her loss on Facebook. The post spread quickly, and many other farmers commented that they feared the same fate. A Democratic organizer asked her to speak at a town hall meeting in Little Rock. At first she said no, but after talking with her mother, she agreed to go.

The church hosting the meeting was packed. That same night, just seven blocks away, Senator Cotton held a $7,000-a-plate fundraiser at a fancy hotel. Shoffner gripped a metal music stand as a makeshift podium and told her story, criticizing politicians who wear cowboy boots but do nothing to help farmers. The room broke into applause, and many people urged her to run for office.

Within a year, Shoffner won the Democratic primary and became her party's nominee. Her campaign says 80% of its donations came from local people, not big outside political groups. Cotton's team has attacked her record, calling her too far to the left and questioning her farming credentials. But Shoffner says her focus is on economic problems that affect all farmers, not political labels.

Some Arkansas voters say the attack ads against Shoffner actually made them more curious about her. At a local fair called Farm Fest, a medical assistant named Edie Myers told Shoffner she had seen the negative ads but hadn't paid attention to them. Shoffner's Republican cousin, Jack Kent, who farms some of the family's land, said he plans to vote for her because her experience could help Arkansas farmers.

Shoffner's campaign plan centers on helping rural communities build new industries and process more crops locally. She argues that when farms fail, everyone in the surrounding community suffers — from small businesses to local schools. 'Rural Arkansas needs to thrive for everyone to thrive,' she has told audiences. 'When one farm goes out of business, like when my farm went out of business, a whole bunch of other people lose.'

One evening, after 14 hours of campaign stops, Shoffner pulled into a farm supply store parking lot in Paragould. More than 100 people had gathered for a 'farmer revival' organized by a local rural ministry. A young farmer told her he had been praying for a miracle to save his farm, and Shoffner was honest with him. 'I don't think a miracle is coming,' she said — instead pointing to new policies, new crops, and new industries as the real path forward.