Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller on Thursday called for the immediate resignation of Republican Party of Texas Chair D'Rinda Randall. He spoke after Tuesday's election, in which Republicans lost every statewide race on the ballot, control of the Texas House of Representatives and the majority on the State Board of Education. The House is on course to elect its first Democratic Speaker since 2003, when Republican Tom Craddick succeeded Democrat Pete Laney.
Miller said Republican leaders had been warned about voter concerns and called Randall's response a weak statement that did not accept responsibility. He said he had repeatedly raised voter anger with her, especially over large data centers and proposed 765-kV transmission lines. He said he urged her to encourage Republican candidates to address those concerns publicly.
Miller said Randall argued that the data center issue was not as important as the social issues she was focused on. He said that view showed a failure to understand what voters were saying. He added that the two issues were not either-or.