Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Andy Holt faces accusations in a new lawsuit of trying to use his position to try to pressure the powerful lobbying organization for the state’s farmers to endorse Republican gubernatorial candidate Marsha Blackburn.
The allegations emerged in a lawsuit filed this week in Weakley County Circuit Court by former Farm Bureau Insurance agent Bryant Rhodes.
Rhodes’ lawsuit claims he caught Holt engaging in “deceitful, unethical and fraudulent” conduct during an April 25, 2026, property sale where Holt was serving as the auctioneer and, as a result, the agriculture commissioner fabricated a story to pressure the Tennessee Farm Bureau to terminate the veteran insurance agent…