Texas Agriculture Commissioner Race Turns Personal as Sheets and Tucker Trade Eligibility Charges
Republican Nate Sheets and Democrat Clayton Tucker are vying for an open seat that oversees a $1.8 billion agency. Data centers have become a flashpoint, even though the office has no say over them.
For the first time in more than a decade, Texas will elect a new agriculture commissioner, and the race between Republican Nate Sheets and Democrat Clayton Tucker has turned personal, The Texas Tribune reported. Both men are fifth-generation Texans who grew up in the Hill Country, and each says the other is not qualified for the job.
What the job does
The agriculture commissioner leads a department with a $1.8 billion two-year budget. It provides financial help to farmers and ranchers, gives rural infrastructure grants, runs the National School Lunch Program and oversees SNAP and WIC benefits. It also checks grocery and meat market scales and houses the state's rural health office.
The winner replaces Commissioner Sid Miller, who lost the Republican primary to Sheets after Gov. Greg Abbott endorsed Sheets.
The candidates
Sheets, 56, a Navy veteran from Kyle, built the honey company Nature Nate's from a single beehive and sold it in 2021. He now runs Honey Rock Ranch in West Texas. He wants trade policies that protect producers, cleaner food and more agricultural processing jobs, and he calls himself part of the Make America Healthy Again movement.
Tucker, 35, works on his family's ranch near Lampasas and is secretary of the Texas Farmers Union. He wants school lunches made and processed in Texas, action against agriculture monopolies and fewer harsh chemicals in food. A win would make him the first Democratic agriculture commissioner since 1991.
Data centers and eligibility
Tucker has built his campaign on opposing "irresponsible" data centers, though the office has no say over them. Sheets says data centers should get no tax abatements and should pay into water and agriculture funds, with some local control for counties. For background, see our report on who should pay for data centers.
In a letter to the chair of the Republican Party of Texas, Tucker's attorneys cite records they say show Sheets is one year short of the five-year ranch ownership requirement and argue his honey company is not an agricultural business, the Tribune reported. They asked the party to review his eligibility. The party did not respond to the Tribune. Sheets says he has owned Nature Nate's Farm since 2012 and worked in agricultural production for 30 years. Sheets accuses Tucker of not owning the ranch he works on, which Tucker does not dispute.
A down-ballot race that matters
A Texas Southern University poll last month had Sheets up 6 points, the Tribune reported, but most likely voters did not know enough about either candidate to have an opinion. Farmers and ranchers are dealing with drought, screwworm and high costs, and they deserve a commissioner focused on them. Voters should learn about both men before they vote. See what is on every Texas ballot.
Hero photo: USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Texas / Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
