Lois Kolkhorst
Republican Incumbent
Lois Kolkhorst
Republican Incumbent
Candidate for Texas Senate, Dist. 18
About
Texas State Senator for District 18 since 2014. Texas House Representative for District 13 (2001–2014). Former President of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Foundation of Brenham. Former Director of Marketing for Texas Christian University Athletics Administration. Owner/operator of Kolkhorst Petroleum, a family petroleum and convenience-store business.
Conservative Endorsements
Candidate Videos
Survey Responses
Notable Quotes
“If it’s one life, one life out of a million, it’s worth saving.”
“Men in women’s sports is one of the greatest attacks on women’s rights in modern American history.”
Positions on Texas Eagle Forum Legislative Priorities
Border Security & Immigration
- AUTHORED A BILL TO INCREASE PENALTIES FOR CRIMES TIED TO UNLAWFULLY ENTERING THE U.S. or avoiding law enforcement checkpoints. (Senate Bill 1620, 2023). [1, 2, 3]
- AUTHORED A RESOLUTION URGING THE GOVERNOR TO DECLARE AN INVASION BY FOREIGN CARTELS under the U.S. Constitution and designate Mexican drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (SCR 23, 2023). [1, 2, 3]
- SUPPORTED BORDER WALL CONSTRUCTION and property tax relief for landowners allowing wall infrastructure, co-sponsored related measures (House Bill 247 and HJR 34, 2025), and backed efforts to receive federal reimbursements for state border spending. [1, 2, 3, 4]
- AUTHORED E-VERIFY LEGISLATION to require all employers to electronically confirm that newly hired employees are authorized to work in the United States (SB 324, 2025). [1, 2, 3]
Secure Our Elections
- AUTHORED THE PAPER AUDIT LAW, requiring voter-verifiable paper audit trails, prohibiting internet-connected voting systems, and requiring risk-limiting audits. (Senate Bill 598, 2021). [1, 2, 3]
- CO-SPONSORED THE PRIMARY PHOTO VOTER ID LAW (Senate Bill 14, 2011) and co-authored the Election Integrity Protection Act (Senate Bill 1, 2021). [1, 2, 3, 4]
- INSTIGATED STAFF INVESTIGATIONS into reported issues such as cameras off or confusion at the polls. [1, 2]
Education Issues
- VOTED FOR EDUCATION SAVINGS ACCOUNTS (ESAs)/VOUCHERS (Senate Bill 2, 2025) and the Public School Finance Bill (House Bill 2, 2025), which appropriated $8.5 billion in new funding largely from sales tax and included teacher pay raises and free Pre-K for teachers’ children. [1, 2, 3, 4]
- CO-AUTHORED THE PARENTS BILL OF RIGHTS (Senate Bill 12, 2025) to protect the rights of parents to make decisions in support of their child's education and stand up against indoctrination, ban DEI policies and programs, and ban instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools. [1, 2, 3, 4]
- CO-AUTHORED THE TEACHERS BILL OF RIGHTS (House Bill 6, 2025) to address student discipline in the classroom to improve the learning environment and ensure that students who are disrespectful or disruptive can be removed. [1, 2, 3]
- BACKED REPLACEMENT OF STAAR TESTING with a “more instructionally aligned assessment that will measure the student’s improvement over the course of the year instead of the high-stakes measurement at the end of the year” (House Bill 4, 2025). [1, 2, 3]
Protect Childhood Innocence
- CO-AUTHORED THE LAW RESTRICTING SEXUALLY ORIENTED PERFORMANCES in the presence of minors (Senate Bill 12, 2023). [1, 2, 3]
- CO-SPONSORED THE READER ACT to regulate library materials sold to or included in public school libraries, require vendor ratings for sexually explicit material, and establish collection development standards (House Bill 900, 2023). [1, 2, 3, 4]
Gender Issues
- CO-AUTHORED THE TEXAS WOMEN'S PRIVACY ACT (Senate Bill 8, 2025) and authored additional bathroom bills in previous sessions requiring school and government facilities to be used based on biological sex (SB 6, 2017, and related). [1, 2, 3, 4]
- CO-AUTHORED THE LAW AND SPOKE IN FAVOR OF BANS ON PUBERTY BLOCKERS, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries for minors (Senate Bill 14, 2023). [1, 2]
Government-Sanctioned Addiction
- VOTED TO BAN CONSUMABLE HEMP PRODUCTS CONTAINING ANY AMOUNT OF THC, including delta-8, delta-9, and related cannabinoids (Senate Bill 3, 2025). After Governor Abbott vetoed the bill, she held a hearing as Chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee to hear testimony and evaluate refiling another bill next session. [1, 2, 3]
- CALLED FOR THE TEXAS RANGERS TO INVESTIGATE ALLEGATIONS OF FRAUD involving a 2023 $95 million Lotto Texas jackpot during a Texas Senate Finance Committee hearing on the Texas Lottery Commission’s budget. [1, 2, 3, 4]
- AUTHORED A BILL TO REGULATE SPORTS WAGERING, including licensing, taxes, and decriminalizing certain sports bets (Senate Bill 715, 2023) and authored the companion constitutional amendment (SJR 39, 2023). [1, 2, 3, 4]
Protect Life
- CO-AUTHORED THE TEXAS HEARTBEAT ACT (Senate Bill 8, 2021) prohibiting most abortions after detection of a fetal heartbeat. [1, 2]
- AUTHORED THE BORN-ALIVE INFANT PROTECTION ACT (Senate Bill 23, 2019) to strengthen protections for infants born alive after an abortion attempt. [1, 2, 3]
- 100% PRO-LIFE RATING from major Texas pro-life organizations. [1, 2]
Islamification of Texas
- AUTHORED THE ADVERSARIAL NATIONS LAND BAN to prevent adversarial nations and terrorist organizations named by the Governor, including the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), from owning Texas real estate, timber, water, oil and gas, water rights, rare earth minerals, and other natural resources (Senate Bill 17, 2025). [1, 2, 3]
- VOTED FOR THE LAW ADDRESSING EPIC CITY type arrangements, known as closed cities with the potential for Sharia Law (House Bill 4211, 2025). Defines a violation related to residential arrangements as a deceptive trade practice under the Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act. Also prohibits certain financial arrangements of home ownership which prevent an entity such as EPIC City from being legal in Texas.[1][2][3]
National Security
- AUTHORED THE ADVERSARIAL NATIONS LAND BAN to prevent adversarial nations and terrorist organizations named by the Governor, including the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), from owning Texas real estate, timber, water, oil and gas, water rights, rare earth minerals, and other natural resources (Senate Bill 17, 2025). [1, 2, 3]
- See “Border Security & Immigration” section.
Other Constitutional Issues
- CO-AUTHORED THE TEN COMMANDMENTS LAW, requiring public elementary and secondary schools in Texas to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom (Senate Bill 10, 2025). [1, 2]
- CO-AUTHORED THE LAW ALLOWING VOLUNTARY PRAYER or religious text reading during designated times set by school boards with parental consent (Senate Bill 11, 2025). [1, 2, 3]
- CO-SPONSORED THE CONSTITUTIONAL CARRY LAW (House Bill 1927, 2021) for permitless handgun carry in Texas. [1, 2, 3]
- CO-AUTHORED THE LAW BANNING PRIVATE EMPLOYER COVID VACCINE MANDATES (Senate Bill 7, 2023). [1, 2, 3, 4]
- VOTED TO RECOGNIZE GOLD AND SILVER as legal tender in Texas (House Bill 1056, 2025). [1, 2, 3]
- VOTED TO RENEW AND EXTEND Texas’s prior application to Congress for a Convention of States under Article V of the U.S. Constitution (HJR 98, 2025). [1, 2]
Bonus Issue - Property Tax Relief
- JOINT AUTHOR OF THE SENATE PACKAGE that increased the statewide school-district homestead exemption (SJR 2/SB 4, 2025). On the floor she supported the $140,000 homestead but said do not “take your victory lap” because appraisal spikes can eat the savings; she urged cutting the 10% homestead appraisal cap to 5%.[1][2][3]
- HAS REPEATEDLY FILED a 5% homestead appraisal cap (for example, Senate Bill 321, 2025). Stated, “We need to look at reducing that 10 percent appraisal cap, maybe down to 7 percent or 5 percent.” She also highlighted relief for small business owners by raising the personal property tax exemption from $2,500 to $125,000.[1][2][3][4]