Texas appoints new secretary of state ahead of 2026 midterm elections

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has appointed a new secretary of state just three months before midterm elections featuring multiple high-stakes congressional races.

In a message Friday, the governor announced that his aide, Robert Howden, would become Texas’ top election official. The appointment puts to rest reports that a far-right former state lawmaker could land the job — a nomination that the outgoing secretary was rumored to oppose.

Howden is replacing Jane Nelson, a former longtime GOP state senator who led the secretary of state’s office for the past three years. Last month, she abruptly announced she would be leaving the role on July 17.

Nelson has not given a reason for her sudden departure. But she reportedly fought back against handing over the role to former state Rep. Nate Schatzline (R), an election denier and ally of President Donald Trump and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), according to the Texas news outlet Quorum Report.

Since Nelson announced her departure, Schatzline was rumored to be Abbott’s pick to replace her. Instead, the governor recently appointed him to serve as his adviser on election integrity, though the two-term Republican lawmaker has no known qualifications related to elections. 

Schatzline praised Howden’s appointment in a social media post Friday morning: “Robert is FANTASTIC! He will do an amazing job!”

Texas Democrats, meanwhile, appeared to greet the news with a degree of wariness.

“Texas House Democrats will be watching closely to ensure the Secretary of State’s Office remains focused on administering secure, fair and accessible elections,” state Rep. John Bucy III, vice chair of the House Elections Committee, said in a statement. “Just last night, the president again used the power of his office to spread dangerous and thoroughly debunked lies about our elections. At a moment when the president is attempting to undermine public trust in our democracy, Texas’ top election official must defend the facts, follow the law and protect every eligible Texan’s sacred right to vote.”

The Texas Constitution gives the governor the power to appoint the secretary of state with “the advice and consent of the Senate.” However, the Texas Senate has not yet confirmed Howden’s appointment, since the state legislature will not convene until January 2027.

Emily Eby French, policy director at Common Cause Texas, told Democracy Docket that Texans need more transparency about the person who will oversee this year’s elections.

“It is incredibly frustrating that the people of Texas do not get to hear from him in confirmation hearings or vet him by direct election before he runs a huge, consequential election in November,” French said.

Before stepping in as secretary of state, Howden served as Abbott’s senior adviser and director of legislative affairs. This isn’t the first time Abbott has appointed one of his own staffers to the post. 

“Sometimes it is an employee like Ruth Hughes, who turned out to be a pretty low-drama secretary of state, guided elections through COVID — and ultimately did not get confirmed, but did not cause huge problems for elections,” French said. “We’ve also seen Abbott appoint his staffers and loyalists and it go incredibly poorly, like with David Whitley, who tried to purge 95,000 voters. Or John Scott, who made jokes about election denial in the same breath as he said Texas has secure elections.” 

French said she hopes Howden will be a “steady hand” at the helm. 

With at least three competitive U.S. House seats on the ballot, as well as a high-pressure U.S. Senate race between Paxton and state Rep. James Talarico (D), Texas likely will need just that.