Charleston, West Virginia—Former Delegate Joshua Kurt Higginbotham filed to seek the Republican Nomination for West Virginia Agriculture Commissioner at 11:59 PM on the last night of the filing period.
Delegate Higginbotham previously served in the House of Delegates representing Putnam, Mason, and Jackson Counties from 2016-2021 where he served as Assistant Republican Whip, Chairman of the Economic Development Committee, Vice-Chairman of the Education Committee, and Vice-Chairman of the Republican Legislative Committee (RLC). The first ever job Higginbotham held was working on his family’s cattle farm from the time he was 10 years old through high school every summer. Higginbotham stated, “Hard work runs in my family’s blood. From the time we settled what is now Greenbrier & Monroe Counties in the 1700’s, we’ve been farmers. I plan to carry on my family’s legacy by encouraging other young Mountaineers to take an interest in agriculture. Too many woke corporations like Blackrock and companies affiliated with Communist China are buying millions of acres of family-owned farmland in our country. We must do everything we can to stop this at a state level.”
The Higginbotham Family owns & operates the Historic Woodlawn Estate which is a working 900-acre cattle farm in the Kanawha Valley with 120+ longhorn cows where they also grow corn, soy, wheat, and hay. They are also heavily involved in Agritourism with their farm being an event venue which saw 7,000 West Virginia visitors last year at dozens of weddings, parties, reunions, and other events they hosted.
“In recent months, I have visited all 55 West Virginia county courthouses,” Higginbotham said, “meeting with hundreds of local, county, and state officials to talk about the issues impacting their communities. Every conversation I have, people want to know when I plan to run for office again. Until now, I planned to serve the state in the private sector, but that changed in light of recent events.”
Higginbotham’s professional career includes marketing & business development for Delta Defense, which is the service provider for the United States Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) which has 800,000+ members nationally, thousands of whom live in West Virginia. Higginbotham is also a certified USCCA firearms instructor where he has recruited hundreds of other instructors, gun ranges & gun clubs, gun stores, church security teams and works to expand the USCCA Attorney Network in the Mountain State.
“As a gun owner and a hunter, our 2nd Amendment rights are an integral part of our conservative values. I hold those values near and dear to my heart and will stand by the rights of property owners when I’m elected as Agriculture Commissioner.”
Higginbotham is an active member of his community where he serves on the Board of Directors for Prestera Health Center which is the state’s largest mental health and addiction recovery provider, is an Elder at his church in Charleston, a Committee Member at his local volunteer fire department, a member of the local Chamber of Commerce, Hospitality and Travel Association, and the WV State University Advisory Board for the School of Business & Social Sciences.
Higginbotham is a graduate of Poca High School where he served as President and Political Director for West Virginia DECA which is one of America’s largest student business organizations. He is a graduate of the University of Charleston where he holds a degree in History and Political Science. He was Executive Director of the College Republicans for two years while there.
“While in the Legislature, I spearheaded the Hope Scholarship Program which has helped thousands of students become homeschool or private school families.” Higginbotham said, “When we have children of our own, we have every intention of homeschooling our kids for the first few years and eventually sending them to a private Christian school.”
Joshua and his partner, Ethan, live in Charleston with their dog Oliver where they enjoy gardening together and hiking at parks all over West Virginia. They are currently planning to become foster parents for the first time and want to adopt in the coming years. Starting a family and raising their children on their family farm has always been their single most important goal in life.
