Nate Sheets was leading longtime incumbent Sid Miller in the Republican primary for Texas agriculture commissioner early Wednesday morning. 

Gov. Greg Abbott called to congratulate Sheets on his campaign at his election watch party in Plano on Tuesday night. Abbott told the candidate that he looked forward to working with him. 

Sheets said on social media that he was grateful for the support of grassroot conservatives across the state. 

“While a few votes remain to be counted, the direction of this race is clear,” Sheets posted. “Texans are ready for new leadership and we are ready to get to work.

Sheets, the founder and former CEO of a national raw honey company and a ranch owner, is a first-time candidate for political office. Abbott and Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham were among Texas Republican leaders who threw their support behind Sheets, casting Miller as corrupt and inept. 

“He’s been an utter failure in his job as ag commissioner,” Abbott said on a conservative radio show in January. “There are character flaws with him that do not reflect positively on the state of Texas.”

Despite multiple ethical scandals throughout his three terms as agriculture commissioner, Miller had previously held onto his seat with the help of endorsements from President Donald Trump who backed Miller in 2018 and 2022. This year, Trump waited until the Friday before Election Day to issue his support for Miller. 

Should Sheets win, he will compete against Democrat Clayton Tucker in the fall general election, though no Democrat has won statewide office in three decades. 

Sheets served for six years in the U.S. Naval Reserve before graduating from Texas State University. He also previously worked as communications director for an evangelist ministry that establishes new Christian congregations around the world. He is a supporter of the Make America Healthy Again movement, spurred by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 

Miller was first elected in 2014. His three terms have been littered with scandals. In his first term in office, he was investigated by the Texas Rangers and fined by the Texas Ethics Commission after allegations surfaced that he was using public dollars for personal travel, including one trip to receive a pain injection called the “Jesus shot.” He paid back the money, and he was never charged with a crime.

During his second term, his longtime political consultant, Todd Smith, was indicted for commercial bribery and theft for trying to sell hemp licenses regulated by Miller’s agency.  After Smith pleaded guilty to commercial bribery, Miller installed him as chief of staff at the Department of Agriculture, where he is currently the second-highest-paid employee in the 755-person agency.

Last year, The Texas Tribune reported that a former friend of Miller’s told law enforcement that he was asked by the agriculture commissioner to dispose of marijuana products because he feared he was being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

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