New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is deciding whether to sign or veto legislation to ban hog farmers in that state from using gestation crates, a decision that could impact his future political plans should he campaign in Iowa.
Bill Tentinger, a Plymouth County pork producer and a past president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association, says he talked with Christie about the subject at a recent event in northwest Iowa.
While New Jersey’s hog industry is relatively small, Iowa is the nation’s number-one hog producer, in addition to being home to the first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses. Tentinger says Christie is aware that banning the crates has been the focus of animal rights groups like the Humane Society of the United States.
Tentinger says Christie has consulted with Iowa Governor Terry Branstad on the issue. The bill to ban the crates has bipartisan support in Christie’s state.
Tentinger met with Christie during an October pheasant hunt which served as a fundraiser for Iowa Congressman Steve King at a hunting preserve near Akron. Christie, a Republican, has not publicly declared if he’ll run for president in 2016, although he has campaigned for other candidates, including the Governor when he stopped in Burlington, this year.
