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URBANDALE — Mike Naig on Wednesday defended the state’s work addressing water quality in Iowa during his tenure as agriculture secretary and characterized a potential challenger in next year’s elections as someone who “hates ag, hates farmers.”

Naig made the comments Wednesday while speaking to the regular meeting of a suburban Des Moines conservative group and in an interview after.

Naig, who was first elected state ag secretary in 2018, is running for a third, four-year term in next year’s midterm elections.

No Democrat has officially declared candidacy for the position, but recently Chris Jones, an author and former University of Iowa researcher, said he is considering a campaign . Jone

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