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Texas agriculture commissioner 2026: Who is running and what you need to know

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By María Méndez, Jayme Lozano Carver and Kate McGee, The Texas Tribune
September 24, 2026

Editor’s note: To help readers learn more about the candidates running for statewide seats, The Texas Tribune is sharing information about the Republican, Democratic and third-party candidates. For more information on midterms and the voting process, check out our election resources here.

About this seat: The Texas Agriculture Commissioner is the chief advocate for Texas’ agriculture industry. Under the commissioner’s purview, the Texas Department of Agriculture regulates the state’s agriculture industry, including cattle, grain, plants, pesticides, hemp and organic operations. The department provides agribusiness support, promotes Texas products and advocates for policies at the state and federal level that help farmers and ranchers. It also administers the National School Lunch Program to public schools. The department promotes economic development in rural areas and provides disaster relief to farmers. The department is home to the State Office of Rural Health and administers the AgriStress Helpline, which offers mental health resources to agriculture workers and rural communities. The department also ensures that price scanners and scales are accurate to ensure consumers are paying an accurate price for these items when they purchase them.

What’s at stake: Agriculture is the second largest industry in the state and Texas is home to more than 230,000 farms, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 2024, it was the 6th largest state exporter of agricultural products. Farmers and ranchers are on the frontlines of economic pressures, the effects of climate change, and labor and supply chain disruptions and it’s the responsibility of the state agriculture commissioner to regulate farmers from a consumer protection standpoint, while providing support and funding to farms that are economic engines in rural areas of the state.

Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller lost his reelection primary to Nate Sheets, a business owner backed by Gov. Greg Abbott and other Texas Republicans, in the Republican primary. Democratic nominee Clayton Tucker faced no primary challengers.

Candidates at a Glance:

Nate Sheets
Campaign site

Nate Sheets

Republican

💰 Campaign finance:

  • Cash on hand as of June 30: $104,510
  • Raised between Jan. 1-June 30: $1.9 million

💰 Major donors this year:

  • Jim Moyer, retired businessman from Hemphill – $300,000
  • Texas Republican Leadership Fund – $294,600
  • Texans for Greg Abbott – $207,588
  • Texas Farm Bureau AGFUND – $178,904
  • Douglas Scharbauer, a Midland investor – $100,000

Experience:

  • Texan business and ranch owner
  • Served for six years in the U.S. Naval Reserve before he graduated from Texas State University
  • He and his wife founded a company called Nature Nate’s, known for its raw and unfiltered honey. He sold the company in 2021 and resigned as CEO in 2024 to run for agriculture commissioner.
  • Previously worked as communications director for E3 Partners, an evangelist ministry organization that establishes new Christian congregations around the world.

Political ideology: Sheets is a conservative Christian and self-declared member of the MAHA (Make American Healthy Again) movement, which was inspired by Trump administration Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Nature Nate’s Honey emphasized testing to ensure the honey didn’t contain pesticides or herbicides, and Sheets has said his experience leading the company shaped his views on healthy eating.

Policy stances:

  • Helping Texas farmers grow and produce clean and healthy food at home and in the state’s public schools
  • Wants to see data center companies invest money into water and agriculture-related funds, as well as end all preferential tax breaks and subsidies for them
  • Boost job opportunities in the agriculture industry in rural areas of the state
  • Work with the Legislature to ensure Texas has the power to investigate agroterrorists who might spread pathogens that could damage state agriculture production
  • Supports requiring federal e-Verify and “will vigorously advocate” for passing state legislation to verify citizenship for employment in Texas
  • Says he wants to slash transportation costs for farmers and bring back rural economic development
  • Wants to create an agriculture marketplace to connect consumers with local producers and manufacturers

In the news:

Endorsements:

  • Gov. Greg Abbott
  • Texas Cattlefeeders Association
  • State Sen. Charles Perry, a Republican from Lubbock 
  • State Sen. Kevin Sparks, a Republican from Midland 
  • State Sen. Angela Paxton, a Republican from McKinney
  • Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, a Republican from Pennsylvania
  • Houston businessman Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale

How to contact:

campaign@natesheets.com

Clayton Tucker
Campaign site

Clayton Tucker

Democrat

💰 Campaign finance:

  • Cash on hand as of June 30: $162,456
  • Raised between Jan. 1-June 30: $264,673

💰 Major donors this year:

  • Professional musician Don Henley – $50,000
  • Nancy P. Sanders – $11,250
  • James Talarico Campaign – $10,000
  • Heather Ball – $6,275 (includes in-kind donations)
  • Farrukh Shamsi, president of Texas Clinic in Houston – $5,000

Experience:

  • Grew up working on his family’s ranch in Lampasas
  • Fair trade organizer for the Trade Justice Education Fund, a left-leaning nonprofit that promotes awareness of the impact of trade on public health and the environment
  • Worked as a water and agriculture researcher for the National Science Foundation
  • Serves as Secretary of the Texas Farmers Union
  • Has experience teaching kindergarten and has worked on political campaigns

Political ideology: Tucker spent his early career working as a Democratic political campaign organizer. He is an active member of the Texas Democrats and a member of the Texas Progressive Caucus.

Policy stances:

  • Protect Texas from the growth of data centers across the state by helping people get more information about data center resource consumption and “set up ‘Ag Development Districts’ so that locals can fight back”
  • Preserving family farms
  • Lowering the cost of food and removing chemicals from food
  • Stop the spread of microplastics and regulate dangerous chemicals like PFAS
  • Wants farmers to be able to grow hemp and believes it could save Texas farmers
  • Would like to see the AgriStress program continue and grow
  • Wants to rebuild  agricultural co-ops in Texas to make farming affordable and profitable and food more affordable and safer
  • Helping young farmers go into the business and succeed

In the news:

Endorsements:

  • U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat from Austin 
  • U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, a Democrat from Austin
  • U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland 
  • Many Democratic state representatives
  • Texas AFL-CIO

How to contact:

info@claytontuckertx.com

​​P.O. Box 1059

Lampasas, TX 76550

Campaign site

Austin R. Kelly

Libertarian

💰 Campaign finance:

  • Cash on hand as of June 30: $0
  • Raised between Jan. 1-June 30: $494

💰 Major donors this cycle:

  • Libertarian Booster PAC – $394 in-kind donation

Experience:

  • Born and raised in Comanche County
  • Small business owner and full-time natural resource management consultant through ARK Ecological Consulting
  • Served as a lecturer at Texas A&M University and taught rangeland, botany, and ecology classes
  • Has experience showing livestock, starting a landscaping business, working on a small farm and navigating agriculture-related documents

Political ideology: Kelly says his political beliefs are “grounded in the same logic I apply to ecology—removing the excess so the individual can thrive”. The Libertarian Party of Texas’ platform says it seeks “the maximum protection for the rights of all people against any violation” and that “… government must be kept to the minimum necessary to protect the rights of individuals.” The party also says the government should not interfere in personal matters such as free speech, religion, marriage, family and property rights. It also supports the right to bear arms.

Policy stances:

  • Wants to cut regulations and “bureaucratic red tape” for the hemp industry, cottage food production, local meat processing, raw food commodities and small-scale producers
  • Eliminate “licensing schemes” in agriculture
  • Calls for “absolute property rights” and wants to protect farmers from nuisance lawsuits and local zoning regulations
  • Opposes warrantless inspections and the the use of eminent domain for state or private “convenience”
  • Audit the Texas Department of Agriculture to cut spending and lower fees for farmers
  • Compile and publish a review of scientific literature on water and brush control best practices
  • Invest funding in biosecurity monitoring

In the news:

Endorsements:

  • Many Libertarian candidates, including U.S. Senate candidate Ted Brown

How to contact:

kellyforagtx@gmail.com

P. O. Box 1629

Bandera, TX 78003

Disclosure: Texas A&M University has been a major financial supporter of The Texas Tribune. Don Henley and Texas Cattle Feeders Association have been financial supporters within the past five years. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in our journalism. Find a complete list of them and more information about our financial and disclosure policies here.

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.

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