Star-Telegram endorsement: New leadership needed at Texas agriculture agency
It has taken nearly 12 years and a corruption scandal, but many Texas Republican leaders have finally seen enough of Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller’s schtick.
Gov. Greg Abbott, Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham and a panoply of conservative groups have endorsed Nate Sheets in the GOP primary against Miller, who is seeking a fourth term. Republican voters should follow their lead.
Sheets, 56, is the founder of a wildly successful organic honey company, so he knows the business side of agriculture. After that, he was instrumental in starting the “I Am Second” campaign, in which prominent Christians shared their testimonies in online videos.
While he’ll face something of a learning curve entering government, he has a firm grasp of what struggling farmers, ranchers and other producers need from the state in a time of intense global competition. Many are going out of business, and they need innovative, focused help, which Sheets can provide.
Sheets, a Frisco resident, said he wants to boost morale at the department and stem what he called a wave of employees departing. He would seek to speed up decisions and processes to react faster to agricultural needs.
The agriculture department is about more than farming and ranching, too. It oversees nutritional programs, and Sheets cited the need to respond to the growing demand for healthier food and improve the nutritional content of school meals.
Miller, a Stephenville resident who did not respond to our interview request, has been a buffoon throughout his public career, but mostly the harmless type who mistakes trolling on social media for governing. But he wantonly ignored corruption right under his nose when he hired his onetime campaign consultant, Todd Smith, as chief of staff, with a six-figure salary, after Smith pleaded guilty to a bribery charge involving Agriculture Department hemp licenses. Miller’s excuse? The case was politically motivated.
That was too much for Abbott and others, and they’re backing Sheets. We are too.
Early voting runs Feb. 17 through Feb. 27. Election Day is March 3. The winner will face Democrat Clayton Tucker in the fall. The agriculture commissioner is elected to a four-year term.
About our campaign endorsements
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREHey, who is behind these endorsements?
Members of the Editorial Board, which serves as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s institutional voice, decide candidates and positions to recommend to voters. The members of the board are: Cynthia M. Allen, columnist; Steve Coffman, editor and president; Bud Kennedy, columnist; and Ryan J. Rusak, opinion editor.
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How does the process work?
The Editorial Board interviews candidates, asking about positions on issues, experience and qualifications, and how they would approach holding the office for which they are running. Board members do additional research on candidates’ backgrounds and the issues at hand. After that, members discuss the candidates and generally aim to arrive at a consensus, though not necessarily unanimity. All members contribute observations and ideas, so the resulting editorials represent the board’s view, not a particular writer.
How do partisanship and ideology factor in?
We’re not tied to one party or the other, and our positions on issues range across the ideological spectrum. We tend to prefer candidates who align with our previously stated positions, but qualifications, temperament and experience are important, too.
This story was originally published February 13, 2026 at 11:43 AM.