April 28, 2014 5:48 PM

GOP runoff for Ag Commissioner is personal

Merritt has money advantage; Miller getting help from Empower Texans et al

To say the runoff for the GOP nomination for Agriculture Commissioner is nasty might be a bit of an understatement. Former Reps. Tommy Merritt and Sid Miller have traded all sorts of accusations and used some of the sharpest rhetoric of any of the races we’ve seen this year. In this cycle, that’s really saying something.

On everything from human consumption of horse meat to the man Miller calls his “blood brother,” Ted Nugent, neither candidate is interested in holding back at all. Their joint appearances have been about as contentious as they come, to the point that other people in the room have squirmed in their seats.

For example, when QR attended a debate between the two men in Kerrville a few weeks ago, Merritt demanded that Miller apologize to his wife for things that had been said by his campaign.

Merritt was visibly shaken but at the time he did not make it clear what he was so upset about. Miller apologized for whatever had angered him so much.

Republican activist Mark McCaig, who is helping Merritt’s campaign, has written about a Miller campaign staffer named Colton Buckley tweeting that Merritt had sex with a prostitute in the Texas Capitol garage. Here is that tweet.

By Scott Braddock