State Rep. Vince Mangold (Photo from Mangold Facebook page)
- Mangold believes his background and experience both in agriculture and as a state lawmakers make him uniquely qualified to the next Commissioner.
State Representative Vince Mangold recently announced that he would be running to be Mississippi’s next Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner.
The three-term Republican lawmaker enters the open seat race seeking to succeed Commissioner Andy Gipson (R) who is running for governor in the 2027 election cycle.
“I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve done,” Mangold said of his time in the state House. “I hate to really give it up because I have enjoyed it.”
Yet, he believes now is the time to run to ensure someone with an agriculture background continues to oversee the Department of Agriculture and Commerce.
“Several of us [lawmakers] were talking and we just felt like we needed somebody with an [agriculture] background in that spot,” Mangold said. “I don’t know if I drew the short straw or what just exactly, but I felt led that if nobody else was going to do it, it needed to be me. So, I’m going to try to be that voice.”
Growing Up in Ag
Mangold grew up in agriculture where his family also raised quarter horses.
“I grew up in Hazlehurst, Mississippi raising quarter horses with my family,” he told Magnolia Tribune. “I graduated from Hazlehurst High School and graduated from Copiah-Lincoln Community College and then finished my education at Southern Miss.”
After he graduated from college, Mangold went to work in the sawmill and timber industry.
“I’ve got 24 years in the sawmill industry dealing with lumber, timber, logging,” he said. “After the sawmill industry shut down for me, I came to work on the farm.”
He continues to this day to work as a farmer.
“We have eight poultry houses and we’re raising cattle,” said Mangold proudly.
From the Farm to the Capitol
In 2015, Mangold ran for and won a seat in the Mississippi House of Representatives representing District 53.
He defeated longtime Democratic lawmaker Bobby Moak by 11% in the 2015 election.
“The only thing I’ve ever done in public service is this legislative job. I got elected in 2015, took office in 2016, was named vice chair of [the House Agriculture Committee] upon taking office whenever Speaker Gunn was making the committee assignments,” Mangold said. “So I’ve been the vice chair ever since.”
He ran for re-election four years later, besting Democratic nominee Rita Goss by 31%. Mangold then ran unopposed to secure his third term in 2023.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed representing my district. I think we’ve had some good things happen, had some really big things happen as far as the state during that tenure,” Mangold said. “I’ve enjoyed seeing different parts of the state through the Ag committee, met a lot of good people. But I’ve been a voice for Ag since I have been vice chair and so I’m just ready to take it to the next level and not only represent four counties. I’m going to take my district up to 82 counties.”
He is also the chair of the House Ethics Committee, a position where he said he has told his members, “I hope we never have to meet.”
Legislative Highlights
Mangold pointed to a number of bills where he believes his voice has made an impact for the agriculture community.
“We passed a meat labeling bill that said if you were going to call it hamburger meat it had to come from beef,” he said. “So it had to be labeled correctly.”
Mississippi was also among a number of states prohibiting the production and sale of lab-grown meat, a measure that passed in 2025. The products were said to present a serious concern to consumers and to the state’s agricultural producers.
Mangold also noted his involvement on the House Transportation Committee dealing with the issue of agriculture transport.
“We had a harvest permit bill where we raised the harvest permit limit to assist the log trucks and the grain trucks that are loading in the field that didn’t have access to scales to give them a little bit of leeway there with a little extra poundage and not have to worry about getting a ticket,” he said.
Mangold pointed out that he is currently working on legislation that would help farmers and cattlemen who have received drought disaster relief payments not have to pay state income tax on the funds.
“We’ve taken that thought process and moved it to the entire ag community, with timber, with row crops because we ran into an issue that some of the Delta farmers had farms over in Arkansas,” he explained. “Well, Arkansas was receiving those same payments and they didn’t have to pay state income tax on it. The same farm, just a different address than Mississippi, they were having to pay state income tax on the same payments. So, we’re trying to shore that up. It’s in the [House] lawyer’s office now. It’ll be ready to go by the time we hit the start of session.”
Focus on Ag Commissioner
Mangold believes deeply in the agriculture industry in Mississippi.
“Ag in Mississippi is the number one industry sitting at about $9.5 billion,” he said. “First and foremost, I want to make sure that we maintain that strength and grow it if we can.”
He said farmers are dealing with a lot right now.
“Some things the Ag Commissioner’s Office can help with,” said Mangold, while also understanding some pressures are beyond his influence, such as gas and diesel prices.
Still, he said being the voice of agriculture will be his primary focus.
“As far as representing our Mississippi farmers and forest owners and our aquaculture on the coast, just to make sure that they’ve got somebody that they could bring their issues to and somebody that’s going to listen to their issues,” Mangold said.
The Department of Agriculture and Commerce is a large state agency that handles a wide swath of issues. The state agriculture commissioner oversees the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce. State law provides that the commissioner is to have “a competent knowledge of agriculture; mining, manufacturing, statistics and general industries and he or she must be an experienced and practical agriculturist.” The law also charges the commissioner with numerous duties in the areas of development and marketing of agriculture and commerce, regulation of related industries and investigation of agricultural crimes.
“It’s a regulatory agency, so there’s regulations that we have to follow and enforce,” he said. “I know it’s vast. It has got a lot of moving parts.”
He said he is already talking with people in the agency, asking questions to get a feel for where things stand and what those in positions now do in their particular role.
“I’m trying to learn as much as I can before I get there. I want to not just walk in with a goofy look on my face, but I want to walk in and have a little bit of knowledge,” Mangold said. “That’s why you’ve got to have good people around you. They’ve got good people in those agency leadership positions now, so we will sit down and visit with him and they can tell me what they need, because first thing as soon as soon as that job takes a launch is they got to show up at the Capitol and do budget meetings.”
He said having sat through the appropriation meetings for the last eight years on the House Appropriations Committee has given him a working knowledge of what the agency is doing and how workers are undertaking their duties.
“Just to maintain the agency is going to be a job,” Mangold said. “We’ll just have to see day by day and work it day by day and see how we go.”
But the biggest thing to Mangold “is just be a voice for those farmers, help where I can, and just make sure that ag stays number one in Mississippi.”
Around the Fairgrounds
While much improvements have been made at the state fairgrounds, Mangold sees even more opportunities to enhance the facilities and increase access.
“I know it still needs to be work done down on the fairgrounds because you’re dealing with some very old facilities and they have held up well, but as anything old, me included, you have to have repair work from time to time,” he said.
When all children and farmers come in for livestock shows, he wants to ensure they have first class facilities that showcase the state and industry at a high level, which includes improving the equine center.
Mangold also appreciates the support from state and local law enforcement to enhance the safety and security at the fairgrounds.
“I know they’ve done great work with Capitol Police and the [Jackson] police department and the sheriff’s department making it secure, making it safe for the fairgoers and the rodeo people,” he said.
Mangold said getting “everything in tip-top shape so anybody that comes to the fairgrounds would have a very pleasant experience” is high on his priority list.
The Campaign
Mangold enters the race with at least one Republican Primary opponent, Kyle Cockrell. The central Mississippi owner of Cockrell’s Farmers Market was the first candidate to throw his hat in the ring for the Magnolia State’s next Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner.
READ MORE: Cockrell brings a common man approach to his bid to be Mississippi’s next Agriculture Commissioner
Neither candidate has run for statewide office before, and both will need to raise significant funds to increase their name ID and get their message to voters across Mississippi.
Mangold’s January 2026 report showed him with a cash on hand balance of nearly $40,000. Cockrell does not have a report on file with the Secretary of State’s office at this time.
The State Representative said fundraising “is never a pleasant topic because that is the last thing I want to do is ask anybody for anything.”
“I’m always trying to figure it out on my own, but I know in this type of race, I’m going to have to have help,” he acknowledged. “My colleagues tell me to come up here, come down here, I’ve got somebody you want to meet that usually turns into somebody that they already know that can help and so that’s kind of how we’re approaching it right now.”
He said his team is planning a formal campaign and fundraiser kickoff.
“We’ll have that down here at some point in time around Brookhaven,” Mangold said. “That’s just going to be the approach. I’m just going to try to talk to as many people as I can, use my colleagues on both sides of the Capitol. They have been gracious to we want you down here, we want you up here, we think we can help and so we’re just going to use that avenue and see if we can make it happen.”
The open seat could draw more candidates to the race, such as Director for Rural Development for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Dane Maxwell, a Republican former Public Service Commissioner, and past Democratic candidates Rickey Cole and Robert Bradford. None of these have announced any intention of running to date.
Standing Out from the Crowd
Mangold believes his background and experience both in agriculture and as a state lawmakers make him uniquely qualified to the next Commissioner.
“Come election time, I would have completed three terms as a legislator. That kind of gives me an insight, start to finish, with the farming process, the legislative process. I think I’m going to have a pretty good resume to run on,” he said.
Others in the agriculture industry are already expressing support, he said, knowing where his heart is.
“They like the idea that I actually have a farming background. They like the idea that I actually have sawmill and timber background. They like the idea that I’ve got a working knowledge of how it goes at the Capitol so it’s been well received on the places that I’ve spoken so far,” Mangold said.
He also sees his conservative fiscal philosophy as factor voters will appreciate.
“I’m a firm believer if I don’t have it in my pocket, I don’t spend it. I grew up that way. I would run an agency the same way. I know that’s probably a little bit more difficult than just sitting here talking about it but that would be my philosophy,” Mangold said. “We have a budget to work off of. We will do our dead level best to stay within budget every year. We’d love to bank some if we can but I know it would be difficult. But far as as money and spending, I’m very conservative.”
Family Made for this Run
Mangold said his family has been built to support his public service, first as a state lawmaker and now as the next Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner.
“My wife is all in. When we built our poultry houses, I was in the sawmill business so I was gone and so her and her father, they had some poultry houses down here with ours,” he said. “We started with four, they started with four. [Her father] has since passed away so we’re running their four.”
Mangold said their farm was “set up basically for me not to be here.”
“She knows that I’m going to be gone more than I’m gone now doing the legislative session, so she’s all in,” he said, noting, “This is not something that we entered into lightly. Just like when we ran for office in 2015, this was prayed over by numerous folks, not just us. So she’s on board and supportive. My daughter lives there in Jackson and she’s supportive.”
For now, he and his family are enjoying the process of campaigning, meeting “lots of folks that I have not met.”
“I’m going to be traveling around the state. I’ve rolled about three thousand miles on my truck crisscrossing the state [so far] and I’ve got more to cover,” Mangold said. “We’ll be coming to a spot near you soon.”
Qualifying for state offices begins January 2, 2027.
Frank Corder
