Robert Lee Nichols (born November 25, 1944) is an American

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who represents the 3rd District of the

Texas Senate The Texas Senate is the upper house of the Texas Legislature, with the Texas House of Representatives functioning as the lower house. Together, they form the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the state of Texas. The Senate ...

. A Republican, he was the

senate president President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for ...

''pro tempore'' of the 85th legislative session.

Early years

Nichols graduated in 1968 from

Lamar University Lamar University (Lamar or LU) is a public university in Beaumont, Texas, United States. Lamar has been a member of the Texas State University System since 1995. It was the flagship institution of the former Lamar University System. As of the ...

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about east of Houston (city ...

, with a degree in industrial engineering. He had a career as a small businessman before being elected

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Jacksonville, Texas Jacksonville is a city located in Cherokee County, Texas, United States. The population was 13,997 at the 2020 U.S. census. It is the principal city of the Jacksonville micropolitan statistical area, which includes all of Cherokee County. Ja ...

, and served as mayor 1985-1989.

Public service

During his tenure as mayor, Nichols streamlined the city government and helped to cut

property tax A property tax (whose rate is expressed as a percentage or per mille, also called ''millage'') is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or Wealth t ...

rates. His service as Mayor eventually convinced then-Governor of Texas

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

to appoint him to a six-year term on the Texas Transportation Commission in 1997. Nichols was appointed again in 2003 by former Texas Governor

Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 in the first administration of Donald Trump. He previously served as the 47th governor of Texas fr ...

, and continued to serve until he resigned to prepare for a bid for the Texas Senate. According to his voting records, Nichols is the least conservative Republican member of the state Senate.

2006 and 2018 elections

Nichols faced stiff competition in 2006 from Republicans Bob Reeves of

Center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

; David Kleimann of

Willis Willis may refer to: Places United States * Willis, Florida, an unincorporated community * Willis, Kansas, a city * Willis, Michigan, an unincorporated community * Willis, Nebraska, an unincorporated community * Willis, Oklahoma, an unincorporat ...

; and Frank Denton of Conroe in the Republican primary. Nichols secured a 54% win, thus avoiding a runoff. Nichols' primary win was tantamount to winning the general election, as he did not have a Democratic candidate run against him in 2006. In the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

of November 6, 2018, Nichols defeated the Democrat, Shirley Layton, and the

Libertarian Party Libertarian Party may refer to: *Libertarian Party (Argentina) * Liberal Libertarian Party * Libertarian Party of Australia * Libertarian Party of Canada ** British Columbia Libertarian Party **Libertarian Party of Manitoba (now Freedom Party of Ma ...

nominee, Bruce Quarels. Nichols received 214,756 votes (78.3 percent) to Layton's 56,274 (20.5 percent) and Quarles' 3,280 (1.2 percent).

Service outside the Texas Senate

Nichols served as a board member of the now defunct

Lon Morris College Lon Morris College (LMC) was a private junior college located in Jacksonville, Texas, United States, and was the only school affiliated with the United Methodist Church that was owned by an individual conference and not the denomination ...

in Jacksonville, Texas; the now defunct East Texas Medical Center (now

University of Texas Health System, East Texas A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

) and the Nan Travis Hospital Foundation, as chairman of the Jacksonville Economic Development Corporation.

Personal life

Nichols is wed to his high school sweetheart, Donna; they are parents of three children. Nichols is also the son of the co-founder of Nichols Industries, Inc., Talley Nichols, which was one of the largest manufacturers of toy cap guns in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Nichols is a member of First

United Methodist The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...

Church in Jacksonville.

References

External links

Senate of Texas - Senator Robert NicholsProject Vote Smart - Senator Robert Nichols (TX)
profile
2006
''Follow the Money'' - campaign contributions , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nichols, Robert 1944 births Lamar University alumni Living people Mayors of places in Texas People from Jacksonville, Texas Republican Party Texas state senators Presidents pro tempore of the Texas Senate 21st-century members of the Texas Legislature