Little Village Publisher Jordan Sellergren meets candidate for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Chris Jones during a photo shoot for LV’s October issue on the Iowa River. — Margaret Yapp/Little VillageBy Jordan Sellergren, Little Village publisher

This magazine has not published a campaign endorsement in 25 years, but given our history of reporting on Iowa’s water quality crisis, it should come as no surprise that Little Village is standing squarely behind one candidate in 2026.

Chris Jones’ campaign for Secretary of Agriculture has raised the prospect of real change in Iowa, where water has become so polluted with farm runoff that even our most advanced treatment plants struggle to keep it safe. Thanks in part to Jones’ push for agricultural reform and a campaign platform that provides real solutions — go read it if you haven’t already — Iowa’s water crisis and the agricultural practices that have caused it are finally getting real attention.

Incumbent Mike Naig, Jones’ Republican opponent, would undoubtedly maintain Iowa’s status quo: unregulated industrial agriculture that has resulted in compromised drinking water, ballooning cancer rates, the destruction of wildlife habitats and brain drain as professionals leave the state. Naig’s maintained that for 13 years as deputy ag secretary and secretary, and before that as a lobbyist for Monsanto.

Little Village pursues environmental reporting because it is our newsroom’s responsibility to inform our readers and empower them to shape the best possible future for this state. I believe that future begins by electing Chris Jones for Secretary of Agriculture.

I should note, the reporting and writing for the candidate profile published in the October issue were finished prior to my writing this endorsement, and I was not involved in the newsroom’s editorial process. 

And, in light of this endorsement and in support of his candidacy, I’ll be performing at a Chris Jones benefit concert on Oct. 17 in Iowa City.

This letter was originally published in Little Village’s October 2026 issue.

To submit a letter, email it to editor@littlevillagemag.com with your name and city of residence.