Lois Kolkhorst

Lois W. Kolkhorst
Texas Senate, District 18, including Aransas, Austin, Bastrop, Caldwell, Calhoun, Colorado, DeWitt, Fayette, Goliad, Gonzales, Jackson, Lavaca, Lee, Matagorda, Refugio, Victoria, Waller, Washington and Wharton counties and a western portion of Fort Bend County
Incumbent
Assumed office January 13, 2015
Preceded by	Glenn Hegar
Texas State Representative for District 13 (Austin, Burleson, Colorado, Fayette, Grimes, Lavaca, and Washington counties)
In office 2001–2015
Preceded by	Charles B. Jones
Succeeded by	Leighton Schubert
Personal details
Born	November 4, 1964 Brenham Washington County Texas, USA
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	James Darren "Jim" Kolkhorst
Children	Lois Kate and Jake Kolkhorst
Residence	Brenham, Texas
Alma mater	Texas Christian University
Occupation	Businesswoman
Religion	Lutheran Church

Senator Kolkhorst won the special election on December 6, 2014, for the Texas Senate District 18 seat being vacated by incoming Texas State Comptroller of Public Accounts Glenn Hegar.

Lois W. Kolkhorst (born November 4, 1964)^[1] is a businesswoman in her native Brenham, Texas, who is a Republican member of the Texas State Senate.

She was elected to the state Senate from the 18th District in a special election held on December 6, 2014,^[2] to choose a successor to incoming Texas State Comptroller of Public Accounts Glenn Hegar.

Early years

Kolkhorst is a 1988 graduate of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, at which she studied advertising and public relations and played on the women's golf team.^[1]

Political life

Senator Lois W. Kolkhorst is a fifth-generation Texan, with ancestral roots to the Texas War of Independence. A Brenham native, she went on to graduate from TCU where she played collegiate golf.

In December 2014, Kolkhorst was elected to the Texas Senate in a special election, after previously serving fourteen years in the Texas House. Recognized as a fiscal conservative, she is a member of the Senate Finance Committee, and has served three times on the state’s budget conference-committee, most recently during the final negotiations on the states $209 billion budget passed in 2015. She also serves as Vice-Chair of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services and has written landmark legislation to toughen Texas laws on medical privacy. She earned statewide attention for crafting alternatives to Obamacare for healthcare providers.

Senator Kolkhorst is a member of the Senate Committee on Education, and is considered a longtime friend to parents and teachers as well as colleges and universities. Representing all or part of twenty-one Texas counties, she serves on the Senate Transportation Committee as well as the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Water and Rural Affairs, drafting many laws to protect private property rights.

Known for common sense solutions, Kolkhorst has led many statewide initiatives and written bills that impact every code of Texas law. She made national news for organizing resistance to the Trans-Texas Corridor network of foreign-owned toll roads. Her fight to remove regulatory barriers for small food producers has in recent years sparked a “food freedom” movement across Texas that was featured in Forbes Magazine. Her longtime efforts to promote Texas tourism earned her the Texas Tourism Industry Association’s statewide Silver Spur Award.

To fight human smuggling and drug trafficking, she has helped secure over $900 million for border security, and has served on the Texas Sunset Commission, where she cut government waste and worked with law enforcement officials to reform and realign the Texas Department of Public Safety. She has frequently collaborated with CASA and has received their statewide award for her efforts to protect foster children.

Senator Kolkhorst has repeatedly been awarded and endorsed by the Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers, Texas Farm Bureau, Texas Wildlife Association, the NRA, Texas State Rifle Association, Texans for Lawsuit Reform, the Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas, Texas Department of Public Safety Officers Association, Texas Right to Life, Young Conservatives of Texas and the Texas Association of Business among many others.

Married to her high-school sweetheart Jim, together they have two children, Lois Kate and Jake. Her hobbies include hunting, fishing and gardening. She also coaches Youth Basketball and is a volunteer at her church.

In 2013, she worked closely with Texas Governor Rick Perry and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz to reject a push by members of the Texas Legislature to expand Medicaid in Texas. She has been named among the "Ten Best Legislators" by Texas Monthly magazine.^[3] In her race for Senate District 18 in 2014, she received the endorsement of outgoing Governor Rick Perry, incoming Governor Greg Abbott, and incoming Comptroller Glenn Hegar, among many others.

Personal life

Kolkhorst and her husband, James Darren "Jim" Kolkhorst (born 1965), have two children, Lois Kate and Jake Kolkhorst.^[1] Though they reside in Brenham, the couple owns and operates Kolkhorst Petroleum in Navasota in Grimes County.^[3] The company was founded by Jim Kolkhorst's father, James Henry "Bubba" Kolkhorst.

She is a member of the St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brenham.^[4]

References

1. "Lois Kolkhorst's Biography". votesmart.org. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
2. Kolkhorst Wins Special State Senate Election
3. "Lois Kolkhorst Biography" (PDF). Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
4. "State Rep. Lois Kolkhorst District 13 (R-Brenham)". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved February 20, 2014.