Rick Crawford (R-AR-1)i

Arkansas District 1

Rick Crawford, Biography from House.gov

Biography of Congressman Rick Crawford

Rick Crawford grew up in a military family where his father served in the United States Air Force. During that time, Rick had the opportunity to live all over the United States and overseas and graduated high school in New Hampshire.

After completing his term of service in the Army, Rick attended Arkansas State University in Jonesboro graduating in 1996 with a B.S. in Agriculture Business and Economics. During his time as a student at ASU, Rick was also a professional rodeo announcer, an activity he continued after graduation.

Since his graduation in 1996, Rick’s career has been primarily focused on agriculture in both agri-communications and general agri-business. He has been a news anchor, agri-reporter, and served as marketing manager for the second largest John Deere dealer group in North America.

Rick is a broadcast council member of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting and a member of the 4-H Foundation Board of Arkansas.

In 2010, Rick became the first Republican ever elected to represent Arkansas’s First Congressional District since Reconstruction, and he is honored to serve on the Agriculture and Transportation & Infrastructure Committees in the 112th Congress.

Rick and his wife Stacy, also an ASU graduate, live in Jonesboro with their two children.

Biography from Crawford for Congress

Upon graduation, Rick enlisted in the United States Army where he served as a bomb disposal technician. He completed four years of service, advanced to the rank of Sergeant in under three years, and earned numerous medals for service in the U.S. and Southwest Asia. During his term of service, he also had the privilege of serving on numerous U.S. Secret Service security details supporting presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush among other U.S. and foreign dignitaries.

After completing his term of service in the Army, Rick attended Arkansas State University in Jonesboro graduating in 1996 with a B.A. in Agriculture Business and Economics. During his time as a student at ASU, Rick was also a professional rodeo announcer, an activity he continued after graduation. He was named Announcer of the Year by the National Federation of Professional Bullriders in 1996, 1997 and 1998.

Since his graduation in 1996, Rick’s career has been primarily focused on agriculture in both agri-communications and general agri-business. He has been a news anchor and agri-reporter on KAIT-TV in Jonesboro, Farm Director on KFIN-FM in Jonesboro and producer/anchor of the syndicated Delta Farm Roundup TV show airing in Cape Girardeau, Missouri; Jonesboro, Arkansas; and Greenville, Mississippi. For five years he served as marketing manager for the second largest John Deere dealer group in North America. Rick has also been a featured agri-columnist in the Northeast Arkansas Business Today publication. He now owns and operates the AgWatch Network – a farm news network heard on 39 radio stations in Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky as well as TV stations in Little Rock and Jonesboro.

In 2006, Rick was tapped by former Republican Congressman and Undersecretary of Homeland Security Asa Hutchinson to help lead his efforts for agriculture and agriculture policy in his campaign for Arkansas Governor. Rick worked with Asa on various ag-related aspects of his campaign to assist in developing pro-producer policies that would help farmer and ranchers minimize risk and maximize profits through state administered programs.

Rick is a broadcast council member of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. In 2006 he received a NAFB Newscast Award for his work as a farm broadcaster, and was honored again in 2008 by the NAFB for his ongoing coverage of rice and cotton production issues in the Mid-South. Rick is also a member of the 4-H Foundation Board of Arkansas. Rick currently serves as first vice-chairman of the Craighead County GOP Committee.

Rick and his wife Stacy – also an ASU Alumnus – live in Jonesboro. They have two children – four-year-old Will and 22-month-old Delaney.

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