Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilson Simpson dedicates a breast health center in Dade City. Courtesy of the campaign.

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson moved one step closer to re-election after he decisively won the Republican primary Tuesday.

Simpson defeated his Republican rival Matt the Welder, a Plant City welder, mechanic and social media influencer who legally changed his name from Matthew Taylor.

Simpson will face Democratic nominee Joey Atkins. Courtesy of the campaign.

Simpson’s well-funded campaign will now take on Democratic challenger Joey Atkins.

Atkins is a lawyer and sports agent who has provided legal aid for migrant farmworkers. His campaign calls for a moratorium on data centers and a rollback of legislation Simpson championed as Florida Senate president that shields sugar growers from air pollution lawsuits.

Simpson and his affiliated political committees have raised more than $4.8 million this year from outside sources including farmers, ranchers, food distributors, lobbyists and others with business before his department. Atkins has raised $1,685 and loaned his campaign $8,480.

Simpson, who owns a large egg farm in Pasco County, was president of the state Senate before becoming agriculture commissioner in 2023. His campaign emphasizes his first-term support for conservation easements, investment in fighting wildfires, enhancing the Florida Wildlife Corridor and Florida’s ban on lab-grown meat. He is endorsed by President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and 61 of the state’s 67 sheriffs.

Florida’s agriculture commissioner oversees the state’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Its sprawling portfolio includes regulating farms, timberland and food distributors, managing state forests, fighting wildfires, investigating consumer complaints about businesses, licensing charities, movers, repair shops, issuing concealed weapons permits, testing gas pumps and inspecting amusement park rides.

Nicolás Rivero is an environmental accountability reporter at The Florida Trib. He can be reached at nicolas.rivero@floridatrib.org.

Nicolás Rivero is an environmental accountability reporter at The Florida Trib based in his hometown of Miami.

Previously, he covered climate change and the environment for the Washington Post, the Miami Herald and Quartz. He has mentored reporters as a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists and as the Knight Foundation innovator-in-residence at the Florida International University Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media. He was part of a team of reporters named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting for their coverage of Hurricane Helene in 2024.

You can reach Nicolás at nicolas.rivero@floridatrib.org