One Texas Republican loses Greg Abbott’s support over ‘criminality’ | Opinion
Texas’ political season has been like a slow-developing TV plot so far, but Republicans finally have a cliffhanger.
Somewhere way down the March 3 primary ballot, deep beneath races that won’t be decided until the May 26 runoff, cowboy Sid Miller is desperately gripping the reins and at risk of being bucked out of his job as Texas agriculture commissioner.
Yes, I know. The race for agriculture commissioner is not must-see TV.
Miller, a grinning Texas slickster straight out of a Taylor Sheridan drama, is known for wearing a big western hat, riding in rodeos and flashing a toothy smile as bright as the halogen headlights on a cattle truck.
Miller has been agriculture commissioner for 11 years. Seems like 50.
Maybe you remember when he declared war on lab-cultured meat. Or on affirmative action. Or on those crazy little seeds Amazon delivers from China.
Gov. Greg Abbott has noticed.
Abbott, usually cautious, issued one of his most blunt endorsements, backing Collin County Republican challenger Nate Sheets against Miller.
Sheets, a creator of the “I Am Second” evangelical Christian video campaign, is also the beekeeper and founder behind Nature’s Nate Honey.
Abbott took Miller behind the barn.
Texans deserves an Agriculture Commissioner with “zero tolerance for criminality,” the governor posted.
On his X.com campaign account, Abbott called Sheets a “principled leader” focused on promoting Texas agriculture, which is the commissioner’s primary job.
That was after Miller told an East Texas campaign forum in Mineola: “Our governor — for 10 years, I’ve been trying to get him on the farm. Hadn’t got him there yet.”
The governor’s “criminality” line did not refer directly to Miller. Abbott was talking about Miller’s political consultant, Todd M. Smith.
Smith ran Miller’s campaigns for 25 years. He was behind Miller’s often-vulgar social media posts.
In 2024, Smith pleaded guilty in a bribery case. He was put on a two-year probation after the Texas Rangers said he solicited $55,000 in exchange for licenses to grow hemp.
So what did Miller do?
He rehired Smith.
Not only that, Miller put Smith in charge of the entire agency as chief of staff.
And Miller paid Smith $218,582 per year.
That’s more than Miller makes ($140,938). And also more than Abbott ($153,750).
Miller, 70, a former Texas House member from Stephenville, called Smith “the best hire I’ve ever made.”
Sheets, 56, of Frisco, called the hire “rewarding corruption.”
The agriculture commissioner, Sheets wrote, has “one set of rules for his insiders, another for everyone else.”
In the Texas Department of Agriculture, apparently, crime does pay.
This story was originally published January 22, 2026 at 9:59 AM.
