Lois Winkelmann Kolkhorst (born November 4, 1964) is an American businesswoman and politician serving as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of the

Texas State Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per con ...

. She was first elected to the state Senate from the 18th District in a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

held on December 6, 2014.

Early life

Kolkhorst grew up in Brenham, Texas and is a graduate of

Brenham High School Brenham High School is a public high school located in the city of Brenham, Texas, United States. It is classified as a 5A school by the UIL. It is a part of the Brenham Independent School District located in central Washington County. In 20 ...

. She is a 1988 graduate of

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciple ...

in Fort Worth, Texas, at which she studied advertising and public relations and played on the women's

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

team. Before joining the Texas Senate, she served as president and CEO of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce.Allbright, Claire
Lois Kolkhorst, a rising star in the Texas GOP, won't back down

Victoria Advocate ''The Victoria Advocate'' is a daily newspaper independently published in Victoria, Texas. It is the second-oldest paper in Texas and the oldest west of the Colorado River, dating back to May 8, 1846, following the Battle of Palo Alto during the ...

, May 21, 2019.

Political career

Kolkhorst was seven terms in the Texas House representing House District 13, which included counties Austin, Burleson,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, Fayette,

Grimes Claire Elise Boucher (; born March 17, 1988), known professionally as Grimes, is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her early work has been described as extending from "lo-fi R&B" to futuristic dance-pop, and has i ...

, Lavaca,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. Since 2014, Kolkhorst has represented the 18th District in the Texas Senate, a seat she won in 2014 in a special election. The district serves

Victoria, Texas Victoria is a small city in South Texas and county seat of Victoria County, Texas. The population was 65,534 as of the 2020 census. The three counties of the Victoria Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 111,163 as of the 2000 censu ...

and stretches from Corpus Christi north to near Bryan. She is Chair of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services, as well as a member of the Senate Transportation Committee, Senate Select Committee on Texas Ports, Senate Committee on Water and Rural Affairs, the Texas Agriculture Policy Board, the State Water Implementation Fund for Texas Advisory Committee, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Oversight Board. and Committee on Nominations. In 2021, Kolkhorst approvingly tweeted "Let freedom ring!" in support of legislation that prohibited businesses and government entities from requiring proof of vaccination for products or services.

Personal life

Kolkhorst and her husband, James Darren "Jim" Kolkhorst, have two children. Though they reside in Brenham, the couple owns and operates Kolkhorst Petroleum in Navasota in Grimes County. 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.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kolkhorst, Lois 1964 births Living people Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives Republican Party Texas state senators People from Brenham, Texas Texas Christian University alumni Businesspeople from Texas American Lutherans Women state legislators in Texas Golfers from Texas 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesswomen 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesswomen