Married to her high school sweetheart, Jim, she is a dedicated mother and small business owner. Born and raised in Senate District 18, she attended public schools before graduating from Texas Christian University, where she was an Academic All-American and a four-year letter winner with the Lady Frogs golf team.

Born and raised in Senate District 18, she attended public schools before graduating from Texas Christian University, where she was an Academic All-American and a four-year letter winner with the Lady Frogs golf team.

Senator Kolkhorst and her husband are blessed with two children, Lois Kate and Jake. An avid hunter and fisherman, Senator Kolkhorst also enjoys gardening, sports, and the great outdoors.

Lois W. Kolkhorst was born and raised in Senate District 18. She attended public schools before graduating from Texas Christian University. She and her husband have two children.

Senator Lois Kolkhorst: District 18 | The Texas State Senate

Senator Lois W. Kolkhorst is a sixth-generation Texan with ancestral roots dating back to the Texas War of Independence. Married to her high school sweetheart, Jim, she is a dedicated mother and small business owner.

In 2014, after serving seven successful terms in the Texas House, she was elected to the Texas Senate in a special election, becoming only the 17th female to have served in the Texas Senate since 1845.

Lois currently serves as a Texas state senator representing District 18. She was elected in a 2014 special election. She previously served seven terms in the Texas House of Representatives from 2007 to 2015.

Lois Kolkhorst - Ballotpedia

2026 Texas General Election

As of July 22, 2026, Lois W. Kolkhorst’s website did not contain information on this issue.

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“In response to the thousands of outcries from constituents and leadership at the local level of numerous cities and counties, particularly Lee County, this is important legislation,” said Senator Kolkhorst. “Residents and local city and county officials reached out to my office expressing significant concerns about the potential environmental impacts of a compost facility, including the risk of contaminating our water supplies – especially Lake Somerville.”

In SB 2078, a "composting facility" is defined as a site that composts a variety of organic materials, including yard trimmings, clean wood, vegetative matter, paper, manure, meat, fish, dairy products, and oils from municipal, commercial, and institutional sources.

“The goal of this particular company was to collect the waste from a city which mandates such collections, and dump it in another county’s rural properties,” said Kolkhorst. “That is unacceptable – our rural land will not be overrun and potentially harmed because of mandates by urban communities.”

Lee County Commissioners Court, the City of Giddings, the City of Brenham, and Washington County Commissioners Courts all filed resolutions asking the TCEQ to reject any proposed composting facility there. Lee County Judge Malinak expressed strong concerns in an op-ed to the local Giddings paper, particularly about the odor that would likely be experienced in the area, the facility’s impact on property values, and its location near Yegua Creek, which feeds into Lake Somerville, the water source for Brenham and much of Washington County.

Opposes the proposed composting facility, citing potential contamination of water supplies, including Lake Somerville.

Opposes bringing city-collected waste to rural properties through the proposed composting facility.

- Opposes the proposed composting facility, citing potential contamination of water supplies, including Lake Somerville.
- Opposes bringing city-collected waste to rural properties through the proposed composting facility.

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Lois is from Brenham, Texas. She attended public schools in Senate District 18 and Texas Christian University. She has a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics from Texas A&M University. She lives with her husband, Jim, and their two children, Lois Kate and Jake, in Brenham, Texas.

Lois is a State Senator. She works at the Texas State Senate, where she has been since 2014. She previously worked at the Texas House of Representatives from 2007 to 2015. Before entering politics, she worked in her family’s business and ran a small business.

Lois W. Kolkhorst is currently the Texas state senator for Texas Senate District 18. She was first elected in 2014 and is serving her third term. She is chair of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services.

Texas Sen. Lois Kolkhorst details in our Elected Officials Directory

Lois Kolkhorst - Texas Candidate - Transparency USA

Opposes big city composting in rural Texas.

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- Your state senator represents the interests of your district in the Texas State Senate. The State Senate, along with the State House of Representatives, makes up your state lawmaking body: the Texas Legislature.
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- There are 31 Texas state senators, each representing a single district with a constituency of around 1 million.
- State senators are elected to 4-year terms and one 2-year term per decade, and there are no term limits.
- They are paid a salary of $7,200/year and a per diem of $221/day.

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