Jane Gray Nelson[1] (born October 5, 1951)[2] is an American businesswoman who sits on the board of her husbands company and former school teacher (1973-1978)[3] who serves as the Secretary of State of Texas since 2023.

She was elected to the Senate in 1992 after serving two two-year terms (1988–1992) on the Texas State Board of Education.

In 2023, Governor Greg Abbott appointed Nelson to succeed John B. Scott as Secretary of State.

The tenth woman ever elected to the Texas Senate, she was the first Republican woman ever appointed chair of a standing committee and held the distinction of being longest-serving chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee in Texas history.

[citation needed] In 2014 Nelson was appointed chair of the Senate Finance Committee, the first woman of either party to hold that position.