*"And on the eighth day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, ‘I need a caretaker.’ So God made a farmer.

God said, ‘I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the fields, milk cows again, eat supper, then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board.’

So God made a farmer."* — Paul Harvey, 1978, Future Farmers of America Speech

And today, beyond going to school board meetings, Texas needs a farmer of character to go to Austin as its Governor. Texas needs Bobby Cole.

America has always leaned on its farmers and ranchers in times of change and challenge. Texas has a long history of farmer-statesmen. Sam Rayburn fought for rural electrification. John Nance “Cactus Jack” Garner rose from a cotton farm to the Vice Presidency. Lyndon B. Johnson carried the image of his Hill Country ranch into the White House.

Bobby Cole walks in that same tradition. He started as a dairy farmer, milking cows before and after his firefighter shifts. His commutes stretched more than 100 miles each way, yet he always made it home to Quitman to milk twice a day, every day. That grit turned a small operation into a 1,000-acre ranch with 300 head of cattle and more than a million chickens a year that feed American families.

Farming teaches lessons no classroom or boardroom can provide. Faith. Humility. Intelligence. Accountability. Patience. Vision. Farmers do not push problems off until tomorrow. They face them head on, just as Bobby Cole will face the challenges of Texas.

Bobby’s life has always been about service.

Firefighter: He saw a Greensheet ad in a Dairy Queen and answered the call. That decision became a decades-long career that ended with him retiring as a Lieutenant.

Farmer and Rancher: After a 24-hour shift he came home, changed boots, and went to the dairy barn. Over time he built his family’s small farm into a thriving ranching operation.

Community Builder: He has created food, jobs, and opportunity in Wood County while raising his family and working the land.

Each part of his life has been guided by the same principle. Service before self, community before politics.

Texas is proud of its military heroes who also came from the land. Audie Murphy, a farm boy from Hunt County, became America’s most decorated soldier. Chester Nimitz, the Hill Country son, commanded the Pacific Fleet during WWII. Their grit was born in rural Texas, where hard work and duty came first.

Bobby Cole shares that same grit. He has led men into burning buildings. He has raised livestock through droughts. He has kept faith with the land and his neighbors. That practical leadership is what he will carry to Austin.

Bobby is not running for Governor because he needs the job. He already has a full life as a retired firefighter, a working farmer, a husband, and a father. He is running because Texas needs him.

Years of Republican control have left Texas families struggling with a high cost of living, high property taxes, underfunded schools, neglected healthcare, and a government that listens to billionaires instead of working Texans. That has to change.

Bobby Cole is not running to chase headlines. He is running to be a voice for the people who make this state work. Farmers, ranchers, small business owners, firefighters, teachers, parents, and children.

On the eighth day, God made a farmer.
Come November of 2026, Texas has the chance to send one to Austin.

Want to support a working man for governor of Texas, click here: Cole for Governor 

Bobby Cole. A firefighter. A farmer. A rancher. A Texan who will always put service before self,  people before politics.

 Till next time, that’s the story from the ‘Back Forty’. — John W. Peace II

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John W. Peace II is a fifth-generation farmer from Big Stone Gap, Virginia, where he grew up on his family’s dairy, Clinch Haven Farms, and still lives today farming hay and beef cattle. He’s a proud father to Trey and Shelby Peace, and partner in life to Cathy Swinney. A Virginia Tech graduate with graduate studies at Penn State, he served as the youngest Chair of the Wise County Board of Supervisors (2004–2008). John co-owns SafeHavenServices.co and urTOPIX LLC (urTopixLLC.com), a Democratic campaign consulting firm focused on reaching rural voters that is sponsored by www.RuralAmericaRising.com PAC. He’s also a two-time Amazon bestselling author. Learn more at www.JohnWPeace.com.