Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday endorsed Nate Sheets, the Republican challenger to Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, after the incumbent said Abbott doesn’t “understand rural Texas.”
The move, announced by Abbott on X, is the first endorsement by the governor against a statewide elected official this election cycle.
“Nate is a principled leader, who is committed to fighting for the best interests of Texas agriculture,” the Abbott campaign said of Sheets.
Earlier this week, as first reported by Texas Bullpen, Miller told a crowd at a Republican women’s event in East Texas, that “nobody understands rural Texas anymore.”
“Our governor, for 10 years, I’ve been trying to get him on the farm,” Miller said, according to audio from the event that was reviewed by Texas Bullpen. “Hadn’t got him there yet. Our lieutenant governor is from New England. He’d have never been on a farm that I know of.”
Both Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who Miller referenced at the event, declined to comment at the time. Though on Wednesday, Abbott campaign manager Kim Snyder said Miller “has a history of corruption” and pointed to his vote as a state lawmaker to grant in-state tuition to illegal immigrants.
“Nate Sheets is a fifth-generation Texan, a U.S. Navy veteran, a successful businessman, and the principled leader Texas needs at the helm of the Texas Department of Agriculture,” Snyder said in a statement to Texas Bullpen. “Nate Sheets is the only candidate in the race who has the integrity to lead the Texas Department of Agriculture.”
Miller and Abbott have clashed before, when the former sued the latter over policies issued by the governor during the COVID-19 pandemic. Miller has also sued Patrick, the lieutenant governor, over pandemic-related rules established in the Texas Senate.
In 2022, Miller hit the campaign trail for Abbott’s primary challengers, Don Huffines and Allen West. And in 2024, he accused the governor of cutting off his fundraising streams.
“He threatened my fundraiser. He’s threatened the lobby not to give me any funds. I didn’t raise a dime from anywhere in Austin last election,” Miller told The Texan in April 2024. “He made sure that he cut all that off. I still haven’t got a meeting with him in 10 years. Still haven’t gotten a phone call returned.”
