Politico reports:

Maybe it was his move to raise taxes and fees on farmers. Or his regular practice of alienating state lawmakers. Or his decision to pick a fight with the BBQ industry. Or the bribery scandal surrounding his political consultant.

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.

“The sentiment of an eye roll when that name is mentioned is something that’s happened for a little while,” said Chris Wallace, president of the North Texas Commission, an advocacy group for regional interests. “People are finally at the point where they want to do something about it.”

The office Miller heads is no backwater agency. The Texas Department of Agriculture has a sprawling mandate in a state that leads the nation in number of farms and ranches — 248,416 of them, covering 127 million acres. It was a stepping stone for Rick Perry, who served two terms as agriculture commissioner en route to winning the governorship and then running for president. [Continue reading…]