The Lt Governor is the key to power in Texas. Also, the Railroad Commisioner in Texas is extremely powerful compared to other states. It's all weird.

One would expect a governor to make such decisions based on evidence that can be shared with the legislature or the people (preferably the people).

Under no circumstances would one expect that Greg Abbott would do so, as he is wholly driven by a sandman's ideology.

They are both elected positions with separate offices, so the Texas Ag Commissioner is not a subordinate of the Texas Governor, for example. The Lieutenant Governor in Texas has quite a bit more power than the Governor in fact as their office sets the agenda for the Texas legislature which meets only once every two years though for several months. The Texas Lieutenant Governor is also individually elected.