Jane Nelson has concluded her tenure as Texas Secretary of State, stepping down on July 17, 2026. Her departure ends a three-and-a-half-year period in which she served as the state’s chief elections officer, overseeing seven statewide elections that involved more than 27 million ballots.
Nelson, who was nominated for the position by Governor Greg Abbott in 2023, described her resignation not as a retirement but as a transition. She stated that she has never been comfortable with inactivity and indicated that future plans are forthcoming without providing specific details.
Prior to her role at the Secretary of State’s office, Nelson spent three decades in the Texas Senate, where she became the longest-serving Republican state senator in history. Her legislative career included serving as the first Republican woman to chair a standing Senate committee and the first woman to lead the Senate Finance Committee.
Among her notable legislative achievements were the creation of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, expanded mental health services, strengthened protections for domestic violence victims, and the establishment of the Texas Women’s Leadership Institute. Earlier in her career, she served on the State Board of Education, where she gained attention for halting the approval of history textbooks containing factual errors.
Nelson has lived in southern Denton County for more than 40 years. After moving to Texas at age 17 to attend The University of Texas at Arlington, she met her husband, Mike. The couple raised five children in the area, living in Highland Village, Double Oak, Flower Mound, and currently Copper Canyon.
