Gov. Greg Abbott has named Robert S. Howden to succeed Jane Nelson as the next Texas secretary of state.
The office's main responsibility is overseeing elections, and Howden takes up the post less than four months ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Howden has served as Abbott's legislative director since September 2024. He previously worked in the administrations of Republican Governors Rick Perry, George W. Bush and Bill Clements. He also led two of the state's largest business associations, NFIB-Texas and the Texas Association of Manufacturers.
"I have full confidence he will excel as secretary of state," Abbott said in announcing Howden's appointment. "His experience in the legislative process and extensive public service have prepared him to protect the integrity of Texas elections and represent our state with strength on the global stage. Texas will benefit from his distinguished leadership."
Nelson announced her resignation in early June and said it would be effective July 17.
Howden will serve on an interim basis through the start of the 2027 legislative session. Once lawmakers return to Austin, he'll need to be confirmed by the Texas Senate. That confirmation isn't automatic. The three secretaries of state who preceded Nelson in office resigned without winning a confirmation vote.
"As the state’s chief elections officer, the secretary of state has a responsibility to administer our elections fairly, securely, and impartially," state Rep. John Bucy, D-Austin, and vice chair of the House Elections Committee, said. "I've had the pleasure of working with Robert, and I know that he understands that responsibility well."
Howden takes office in the midst of a lawsuit filed by the Republican Party of Texas to close the state's open primary system. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a brief on behalf of the party, even as he campaigned for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate. Secretary Nelson earned the party's ire by actively opposing the suit and seeking to have the case dismissed.
Shortly after Nelson announced her resignation, then-state party chair Abraham George took credit for her departure at the Republican state convention in Houston.
Political science professor Cal Jillson of Southern Methodist University called Robert Howden a "conservative, business-friendly" appointment by Abbott — but he's concerned about Abbott's personal election advisor, former Republican state rep. Nate Schatzline.
"Former Rep. [Nate] Schatzline is a little more off the rails,” Jillson said. “If you want to be concerned about something, it’s Schatzline, not Howden."
Jillson said, nevertheless, that Howden would bear close watching in terms of how he handles some key functions as secretary of state with regards to oversight of the state's voter rolls.
"One of the more controversial things that former Texas Secretaries of State have done is to engage in purging of the voter rolls," Jillson said. "It is necessary because voters die. Voters move away. They have to change their voter registration. So, purging the voter rolls is appropriate and even required. But if it’s done sloppily — and it has been done sloppily in Texas in recent years — it takes legitimate voters off the rolls, and then they have to discover that they’re off the rolls and re-register and get back on."
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