Daniel Miller Tells Newsweek Tuesday’s Election Strengthened the Independence Movement

Newsweek reported Thursday on Texas Nationalist Movement (TNM) President Daniel Miller’s argument that Tuesday’s election leaves the movement in a stronger position to win a vote on Texas independence. The article, by James Bickerton, was built on Miller’s column in the Texian Partisan, “This Is Our Time,” and carried a statement Miller gave the magazine.

“Tuesday changed who holds power in Austin. It didn’t change who Texas belongs to,” Miller told Newsweek. “More than 700,000 Texans have signed up with this movement, more than the winning margin in 16 of the 18 statewide races. The new governor demanded a vote of the people on vouchers and asked Abbott’s office, ‘What are you afraid of?’ On a vote for independence, I’m asking her the same question.”

The Column in Newsweek

Newsweek quoted the column’s central claim: “I believe no organization in Texas comes out of this election in a better position to do what it exists to do than the Texas Nationalist Movement.”

The magazine reported Miller’s point that the House majority that buried the referendum bill in 2021 and 2023 is gone. It quoted his account of what comes next: “On January 12, 2027, a new majority will elect a Speaker, and that Speaker will name the chairs.” It also reported that the nine House Republicans who signed the Texas First Pledge looked set to win re-election.

Newsweek carried Miller’s answer to supporters who see a Democratic Texas as a reason to stop. “On Tuesday, Texans changed their state government in a single night, and they can change it again at the next election,” he wrote.

The article closed its account of the movement’s plans with TNM’s request to the new Legislature: a bill that sets a vote on Texas independence for November 2027.

Newsweek’s Coverage of the Movement

Bickerton has covered the movement before, most recently in September, when Newsweek cited TNM’s position on the New Mexico counties proposal ahead of a Texas House hearing. Miller’s full column is on the Texian Partisan.