Nathan Lincoln Hecht (born August 15, 1949) is an American lawyer who served as the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Texas from 2013 until his mandatory retirement December 31, 2024.

He was a law clerk to Judge Roger Robb of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

He began his judicial service on the 95th District Court of Dallas County, to which he was appointed by Governor Bill Clements, on September 1, 1981, elected in 1982, and re-elected in 1984.

[3] The New York Times has reported that, on the day of Miers' nomination, Hecht participated in a conference call with the Arlington Group, a coalition of Christian conservatives, assuring them of her pro-life views.

[7] Hecht filed an appeal of the decision in Travis County District Court, which removed the fine.

In the November 6 general election, Hecht polled 4,116,102 votes (53.7%), compared to 3,208,479 (41.9%) for the Democrat Michele Petty.

Senator Ted Cruz, easily won re-nomination as chief justice in the Republican primary election held on March 4, 2014.

[10][11] In the November 4 general election, Justice Hecht defeated William Moody, who ran unopposed in the Democratic party primary.

[12]Former Chief Justices Wallace Jefferson, Thomas R. Phillips, and John Luke Hill, the last Democrat in the position, have also called for reforms in the selection of judges.

Joe Straus, the former Moderate Republican Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives has urged that straight ticket voting be abolished for all elections, not just judicial ones.