Miller has had a lot of turbulence in his job. He was a member of the Trump campaign's agriculture advisory committee. Miller has enraged state agriculture interests and state legislators by hiking fees for department services. He was investigated for using state funds for travel to Oklahoma and Mississippi, where he got a non-FDA approved anti-Inflammatory injection that is supposed to reduce chronic pain, and attended a rodeo.
Todd Smith, Miller's top political consultant and campaign spokesman, was indicted by a grand jury last month on charges of theft and commercial bribery after a two-year investigation into allegations that he over charged people for a permit to grow cannabis.
Miller dropped Smith from his campaign and promised that the agriculture department and his campaign would cooperate with any proceedings.
Miller's campaign didn't respond to calls or emails for an interview.
Since becoming commissioner, Miller has gone toe-to-toe with his former legislative colleagues. The result is a slow stripping of his responsibilities. The removal of some regulatory power from TDA's jurisdiction includes fuel regulations.
The conversations were centered on a bitterness towards the way Sid treated the legislature. GOP state Sen. Charles Perry said that memories are long. There is talk of removing even more responsibilities from the department, such as agriculture inspections. It isn't a good place to put yourself with the people and your budget.
The chair of the Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee is not fond of Miller. He has endorsed his opponent in the primary.
The agriculture department oversees many trade groups. The gas pump regulation was directed to be removed by the state legislature. The Texas Food and Fuel Association is a trade group that represents convenience stores, grocery stores and truck stops in the retail sector of the oil and gas industry. Miller called the association liars, cheat and horse thieves.
For this story, TFFA declined to comment, but they supported and raised money for Miller's opponent. The group has avoided any endorsements.
The Texas Seed Trade Association is directly impacted by two programs that the agriculture department regulates. White is supported by the TSTA.
The last time we met, Commissioner Miller and I had unkind words for one another. We haven't gotten that impression from Miller.
Miller doesn't collaborate or discuss the regulations and potential changes his office makes, including fee increases that would directly impact their member producers.
He said that it was new for them.
A number of Texas ag and business associations have not picked a side in the primary.
There is a concern of retaliation, according to one Texas trade group spokesman.
White has been the beneficiary. White is the only Black GOP lawmaker in the statehouse. White is campaigning on an anti-corruption message that draws on the ethics scandals that have swirled around Miller.
The time is now. White told POLITICO that the department is in disarray and that Miller has legal troubles. I have a good chance of winning this race because the commissioner has an F in trust and an F in security.
During a candidate forum last month, White took a shot at Miller over his ties to the hemp bribery scandal, and the candidates had a heated discussion over the charges and court dates Miller's campaign manager was facing.
White, who has public support from three state senators and 17 GOP representatives, has also received backing from multiple state-based groups, including Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC, which didn't endorse an ag commissioner candidate in the last cycle.
The Alabama- Coushatta Tribe, East Texas Conservative PAC, and the Forestry Political Action Committee have all contributed to White's campaign. White received an endorsement from the Houston Chronicle which referred to the commissioner as a rodeo clown.
The governor and lieutenant governor haven't endorsed him. Brendan Steinhauser, a Texas GOP strategist, said that they have stayed away from him.
Miller was expected to be one of the governor's top primary challengers this year. Miller announced that he would run for reelection after Trump endorsed Abbott. Trump endorsed his reelection effort.
This race is about who you trust. You darn skippy, I have a good shot at winning this race because this commissioner has scored an F in trust and an F in security.
In candidate forums, Miller claimed that schools bought $65 million of Texas farm produce last year. He promotes his satellite office in Argentina for agriculture trade as well as his RFD-TV show.
According to recent polls, Miller is still in the lead. A February Dallas Morning News/UT-Tyler survey showed him with a lead over White, but nearly half of primary voters were undecided. Carey Counsil was in third place with 6 percent of the vote.
Miller's critics draw hope from the high number of undecided voters in a race against an incumbent who voters are familiar with after two terms. He was one of the GOP candidates in the general election who did not do as well as they could have. Four years later, Miller won by just five percentage points.
There hasn't been a candidate to challenge until Representative White came into the seat. At the same time, someone is standing up.
Another asset in the primary might be Trump's endorsement of Miller. Miller boasted that he was the first statewide official in Texas to endorse Trump in 2016 and the first to endorse him in 2024, during the Trump rally in Conroe.
Miller said that he was pro-life, pro-god, pro-gun, pro-business, pro- police-force, pro-Constitution, pro-Israel, and anti-Biden. It is that simple.
The power of incumbency and the fact that Sid has his name on every gas station pump in Texas helps him with his name.
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