Once a top Trump choice to head the USDA, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is facing turbulence in the March 1 primary.
Sid Miller has accumulated so many enemies and courted so much controversy in his two terms as Texas agriculture commissioner that even his conservative credentials and Donald Trump’s endorsement might not be enough to save him in the state’s March 1 GOP primary.
But at home, Miller has enraged state agriculture interests and state legislators by hiking fees for department services. He was investigated, but not charged, for misusing state funds for travel to Oklahoma and Mississippi where he got the “Jesus shot,” a non-FDA approved anti-inflammatory injection that is supposed to reduce chronic pain, and attended a rodeo.
Just last month, Miller’s top political consultant and campaign spokesperson, Todd Smith, was indicted by a grand jury on charges of theft and commercial bribery after a two-year investigation into allegations that he overcharged people for hemp licenses — a permit issued by the state agriculture department.
Trump’s endorsement of Miller might prove another assetin the primary. During a Jan. 29 Trump rally in Conroe, Miller touted their relationship by noting that he was the first Texas statewide official to endorse Trump in 2016, and the first to endorse him for 2024.
The Trump endorsement “does help Sid, the power of incumbency helps Sid and the fact that he’s got his name on just about every gas station pump in Texas using his official position helps him with just his name,” Steinhauser said. “When you go into your tank, you see ‘Howdy, This is Sid Miller, your Texas ag commissioner.’”
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/21/trumps-favorite-cowboy-faces-gop-revolt-00010401