Vote For Ken Estes

My Bio

About Ken

Leadership from the Ground Up

I’m Ken Estes — a seventh-generation farmer and land steward from Caledonia, running for Congress in New York’s 24th District as an independent.

My family has worked this corner of the Genesee Valley for about 200 years. The Estes line landed in Boston in 1684, came west, and put down roots here long before this district had its current shape or name. I grew up on that ground. My father was the farmer in the truest sense — full-time, every season, every weather. I prefer the title land steward for myself, because stewardship is what I was raised into: the idea that the land, the water, and the community don’t belong to any one of us. We hold them in trust for whoever comes next.

That belief is why I’m running.

What I Do

By day, I serve as the Agricultural Program Manager at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Livingston County, working alongside the NWNY Dairy, Livestock and Field Crops Team. My work is direct and practical — sitting at kitchen tables with farmers, running on-farm trials, helping families navigate conservation programs, and connecting Cornell research to the people who actually feed this region. I previously served as President of the CCE Livingston Board (2019–2021).

At home, my wife and I run JoGlenn Farms, where we breed Lippitt Morgan sport horses centered on our stallion, Harwich Attila. We’re also restoring a riparian buffer along the creek that feeds into the Genesee River — small, slow work that won’t make headlines but matters for the watershed and the generations after us.

How I Got Here

I studied at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry as an undergraduate, and earned my M.P.S. in Community and Economic Development from Penn State in 2025. My capstone — Bridging the Gap: Empowering Generations to Cultivate Sustainable Food Systems for Health and Well-Being — surveyed residents across NY-24. The findings were clear: 83% of our neighbors understand the importance of local agriculture, and 70% want more resources to support it. The will is here. What’s missing is leadership willing to listen and act on it.

Why I’m Running

I’m not running because I’ve spent my life chasing politics. I’m running because I’ve spent my life paying attention — to soil, to water, to the families and small towns that hold this district together — and because I believe Washington has stopped paying attention to us.

The two-party machinery doesn’t fit a place like NY-24. Outside money pours in. Real concerns get flattened into talking points. Meanwhile, our neighbors are making impossible choices about healthcare, housing, and whether their kids can afford to stay in the communities that raised them.

I’m running as an independent because I answer to my neighbors — not to a party, not to donors, not to the next campaign cycle.

My Platform

My campaign is built on four pillars, each grounded in what I’ve heard at kitchen tables, barns, and town halls across this district:

• Accessible Healthcare — Rural families deserve care that’s close, affordable, and there when they need it.

• Affordable Housing — Young people and working families should be able to stay in the towns that raised them.

• A Sustainable Food System — Local agriculture is economic infrastructure. We protect it, or we lose it.

• A Clean Rural Environment — Clean water, healthy soil, and protected farmland aren’t partisan issues. They’re inheritance.

Join Me

We’re holding a series of Conversations in a Barn: World Café events across the district — Hemlock, Avon, Wyoming, Conesus, and Sackets Harbor. These aren’t rallies. They’re real conversations, neighbor to neighbor, about what this district needs.

RSVP at bit.ly/ConversationinaBarn

Our petition drive runs April 14 through May 26, 2026. We need 3,500 signatures to put an independent voice on the ballot. If you believe NY-24 deserves leadership that grew up here, listened here, and plans to stay here — I’d be honored to earn your signature, and your trust.

My Key Issues