Ag commissioner’s top staffers cut big checks to campaign
Miller’s re-election bid received at least $18K from his aides
AUSTIN — Most state employees in Texas are not giving political contributions to their bosses in this election season, but two administrators from the Texas Department of Agriculture did, giving more than $18,000 to Commissioner Sid Miller’s campaign.
The biggest check, $13,500, came from a top Miller staffer for a used Cadillac Escalade that the campaign purchased several months earlier.
It is common for state employees to take a leave of absence to work on their bosses’ re-election campaigns. But while the employees are also free to contribute money to the campaigns, few have done so this election cycle, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of finance records of statewide office holders. The analysis found no employee contributions to the governor, the attorney general, the land commissioner, comptroller or railroad commissioner. Miller is the exception. It was an assistant agriculture commissioner, Walt Roberts, who bought the 2007 Escalade, campaign finance records show. The SUV was the lesser of two vehicles Miller bought with campaign money last year in his hunt for the perfect ride this election season.
Seized in a drug bust, the Cadillac was purchased by Miller sight unseen from the state for $10,000 before Miller realized it needed thousands of dollars of work, according to campaign spokesman Todd Smith. The Texas Facilities Commission described the truck as in “poor” condition, with engine or transmission issues that caused the truck to shake badly, a cracked windshield and dashboard, broken door handles, stains throughout the interior and other problems. Miller’s campaign spent nearly $4,000 to fix the truck last fall and sold it to Roberts in April, Smith said. A similar Escalade in fair condition is worth about $12,500, according to Kelley Blue Book.
Roberts, whose annual salary is $184,500, was one of Miller’s most generous supporters ahead of the commissioner’s
2014 election, giving the campaign nearly $58,000 worth of free media production and consulting.
Another employee who cut a check for Miller is Freddy Vest, a rodeo cowboy who says he met Jesus. Vest, the department’s liaison for field operations, wrote a book in 2014 about the experience after falling off a horse while having a heart attack, titled “The Day I Died: My Astonishing Trip to Heaven and Back.” Miller hired him a year later. Vest wrote Miller’s campaign a $5,000 check in March.
Vest’s state salary is $125,000 a year, according to state records.
Neither Vest nor Roberts responded to requests for comment.
Miller, a Republican, is a farmer and rancher running for election to his second term leading the Department of Agriculture, an agency that regulates gasoline pumps, grocery and barbecue scales and agricultural operations. His opponent is Democrat Kim Olson, a retired Air Force colonel, farmer and lecturer.