For Immediate Release: December 18, 2020

Contact: R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard

Phone: 406-252-2516; r-calfusa@r-calfusa.com

 

Billings, Mont. – Long-time R-CALF USA Development Director Tatum Lee-Hahn was elected in a special election held Tuesday to serve in the Kansas Statehouse as Kansas State Representative for District 117. Kansas House District 117 is located in southwest Kansas. The district encompasses in excess of 4,500 square miles. It contains all of 4 Counties (Edwards, Hodgeman, Kiowa and Ness), portions of an additional 4 counties (Finney, Ford, Pawnee and Rush), and twenty-five cities, towns and smaller communities.

Lee, who has traveled extensively over the past several years hosting cattle-producer meetings, conventions, and fundraising events for R-CALF USA, has gained tremendous insights into the precarious conditions of rural communities across America.

“I ran for this seat because for almost five years with R-CALF, I’ve been saying it’s worth the fight, and it truly is. I plan to take that same zeal in fighting for our ranching legacies to Topeka. We’ve been forgotten in agriculture, so we need to remind our legislators at the state and federal levels that we feed them, and we are critical to our economy.”

Lee said legislators also need to know that to save Rural America, “We don’t need to reinvent the wheel, we just need to fix the industries that built our small towns and that includes cattle ranching and all of agriculture.”

“Our cattle markets are broken and when we don’t make money, the butcher, the baker and the candle-stick maker in our communities don’t make money either. Cattle built my family. I plan on taking the R-CALF message all over Kansas. It starts with educating our neighbors from the city. They care where their food comes from, but they’ve been kept in the dark as to the truth. It’s time to expose that truth,” she concluded.

The 2021 Kansas Legislature convenes January 11, 2021 and continues through early Spring. During that time Lee will take a leave of absence from her duties at R-CALF USA, allowing her to devote all her time, expertise and energies to serving the interests of her constituents and the people of the State of Kansas.

R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard said his organization is proud to have one of its hard-working staff members step up to serve in an important public office.

“Tatum is passionate about improving conditions for Rural America and for our entire country. Her successful bid to carry her passion to the Kansas Statehouse will benefit everyone who wants meaningful changes done, not just talked about. And that’s because Tatum has demonstrated that she will fight for what she believes in,” Bullard said.

# # #

R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America) is the largest producer-only lobbying and trade association representing U.S. cattle producers. It is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry. Visit www.r-calfusa.com or, call 406-252-2516 for more information.