Opiela Brings Campaign to East Texas

TYLER — The issue of water is front and center for Eric Opiela, one of five agriculture commissioner candidates in the March 4 GOP primary. Opiela joined KTBB for a phone interview Tuesday. He terms himself a rancher and property rights advocate who splits his time between Karnes City and Austin. Opiela says the state needs an ag chief who has his experience with water concerns, calling water “the number one issue impacting the future of agriculture in this state.”

Opiela claims over a decade’s worth of experience dealing with water concerns, as both a rancher and a representative for landowners. He says that representation has also covered property rights and Endangered Species Act issues — both of which he calls important for an agriculture commissioner to address. Opiela made Tuesday stops in Tyler and Palestine. Also in the GOP hunt for the ag commissioner post: J. Allen Carnes, Joe Cotten, Sid Miller, and Longview’s Tommy Merritt.