Seven-term state senator focuses on health, education

People called state Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, the "Dairy Queen candidate" when she first ran for the Texas Senate in 1992.

"I would go into a Dairy Queen and the kids would pass out brochures and talk to people about what was important to me, and I guess that was my way of campaigning and it was very effective," she said.

Her first campaign chairman was George W. Bush, who later became a Texas governor and U.S. president. Nelson won more than 60 percent of the vote against the incumbent state Sen. Bob Glasgow. Since then, area voters have returned Nelson to the Texas Legislature six times. As one of the longest-serving Republicans in the state Senate, Nelson represents District 12, which includes portions of Tarrant and Denton counties. A former teacher, most of Nelson's focus has been on education, health and human services.

Nelson is running unopposed in the November election.

What is the most challenging thing you have tackled during all the years in office?

One of the first bills I authored was a state law dedicating proceeds from the Texas Lottery to public education. It took me three sessions to pass that bill. Voters approved the lottery with the understanding that the revenue would funnel to schools in their communities. And putting that into state law fulfilled our state's promise.

What is the state's greatest challenge?

Our population growth. Texas has done so much better than other states in terms of creating an environment where businesses grow and prosper. Balancing the need to provide services with knowing that every dollar we spend somebody worked hard to earn. And managing that [is a challenge]. With population growth you have much greater needs, so keeping up with those needs is a huge challenge.

What is your proudest accomplishment?

The only constitutional requirement we have every session is to approve the budget, and this is always the most difficult undertaking. I was among those who felt strongly that we needed to meet our needs within the confines of what we can afford — just like every other household and business has to do in tough times. We worked to scrub the budget, line by line, to eliminate waste, duplication and inefficiencies so that we could free up every possible dollar for education and other essential government services. We met our responsibilities with our available resources, and that was a difficult, but rewarding, accomplishment.

What do you do between sessions?

I chair the Health & Human Services Committee, so we have a whole stack of interim charges. I think we have five lawsuits filed now, and I am on that committee to look into restructuring our school finance. I am the senior Republican on the finance committee and we already are starting to look at what the budget is going to look like next year, looking at where we can come up with more efficiencies, what we can do better, what we project our needs are going to be.

What do you consider Texas' greatest asset?

It used to be Texas was oil country, and that is not the way anymore. Texas is invested in our children in so many areas. Whatever we do to educate and prepare them for the future will ultimately decide what our future is going to look like.

Interesting Facts

Jane Nelson has won more than a dozen awards as a state Senator. She serves on various committees.

• Texas Public Health Association "Senate Legislator of the Year"
• Texas Pediatric Society "Child Advocacy Award"
• Senate Health & Human Services Committee chairwoman
• Senate Committee on
• Finance member
• NASCAR Mom of the Year
• Delta Zeta Sorority
• National Baton Twirling Champion