INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Michigan Farmer, Air Force Veteran Who Took On Michigan DNR Runs For Sheriff As Write-In Candidate

By Dawn Papple
Published on: 10:17 PST, Aug 31, 2016

Mark Baker of nationally-known Baker’s Green Acres is running for Sheriff in Michigan’s Missaukee County as a write-in candidate. An election over a county sheriff position might not normally be newsworthy, but Mark Baker is no ordinary farmer, and he promises to be no ordinary sheriff either.

Baker served in the U.S. Air Force and began farming by raising hogs in a “farrow to freezer operation” while still serving in the Air Force. In 2004, Baker retired from the Air Force and moved to Missaukee County. He and his family have farmed for the last two decades, but it was his move to Missaukee County that allowed him to finally become a full-time farmer on Baker’s Green Acres.

This isn’t the first time Mark has been spotlighted in the Inquisitr. Baker was also featured during his legal battle with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in which he defended farmers’ Constitutional Rights to property and due process. Mark has also supported other Michigan farmers in their own battles over farming and property rights, and has become a household name among the Michigan small farming community.

Mark says that during the three and one-half year battle with the Michigan DNR, he realized that citizens need representatives in public office who will consistently defend their rights. Since the Missaukee County Sheriff is a public servant, sworn to defend the Constitution, Mark says he felt compelled to step up and continue his fight to uphold the Constitution, an oath he took decades ago when he entered military service. Mark says that he is “applying to the people of Missaukee County to be their Sheriff and defender of the Constitution.”

You could say that Mark’s platform is the Bill of Rights itself. In fact, there is a page on his Mark Baker for Sheriff website that is nothing but the text of Bill of Rights.

Baker will be running against James Bosscher, the current Missaukee County Sheriff, according to MLive. Bosscher ran unopposed in 2012, according to Cadillac News. Missaukee County Sheriff James Bosscher was appointed to the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards by Michigan’s former governor, Democratic leader Jennifer Granholm, who recently praised Hillary Clinton for President.

Baker’s name will not be listed on the actual ballot, so voters wishing to vote for the candidate will need to actually write in Mark Baker’s name on their November ballot.

“I am running as an independent candidate, so I’m not beholden to any political party. The sheriff should be a defender of the Constitution and the citizens’ Bill of Rights, not a political party,” Baker said, according to Cadillac News, which reported that Baker said he has been considering running for Missaukee County Sheriff since 2014. While not affiliating with any party, he has been outspoken about his commitment to a Liberty agenda.

Bosscher has been sheriff of the county for decades, but Baker has a growing support system and could shake up the election.

“Mark Baker is a man of integrity and a trained leader. He is also motivated and a man of vision. Mark is a man of conviction and will follow ALL of the laws and rules of the constitution that he has sworn to uphold,” CB Smith wrote on the campaign’s Facebook page.

Baker’s story goes even deeper than a heated legal battle against the Michigan DNR and a gutsy run for Missaukee County Sheriff. Baker’s Green Acres reprioritized and switched gears to focus on helping veterans heal through farming while teaching them valuable farming skills as they transition from military to civilian life. Baker’s farm, through his own Anyone Can Farm program, is indexed as a veteran-operated training farm by Ground Operations, battlefields to farm fields. The program offers courses about permaculture, grass-fed beef, bio-char and rocket stoves, pasture-raised poultry and pork, and vegetable growing. Baker’s Green Acres products also all go out with the Homegrown by Heroes label, according to Baker.

Missaukee County is one of Michigan’s most strongly Republican-leaning counties, but come November, the residents will have to choose between an incumbent Republican sheriff and an Independent candidate for sheriff who vows to always defend their Constitutional rights, even if it means standing up to state or federal regulatory agencies to do it.

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