The top election official in Texas, Jane Nelson, is stepping down next month, raising questions about why she is departing and who will administer the state\u2019s most closely watched election in a decade.<\/p>\n
Ms. Nelson will serve as Texas secretary of state through July 17, formally resigning less than four months before the general election, her agency announced Tuesday. No further details were provided about why Ms. Nelson was leaving or who would replace her.<\/p>\n
Gov. Greg Abbott, who appoints the person in the role, tapped Ms. Nelson for the job in 2023. A spokesman for the governor declined to provide additional information about her departure, saying only that an announcement would \u201cbe made at a later date.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every statewide elected office is on the ballot this year, and the marquee matchup between Ken Paxton and James Talarico for the U.S. Senate is shaping up to be one of the most expensive and contested races of the year. In that contest, Mr. Talarico, the Democrat, is hoping to end his party\u2019s 30-plus-year losing streak at the top of the ticket.<\/p>\n
Ms. Nelson is also departing with a handful of lawsuits pending against her agency relating to voting access. Voting rights groups sued over the state\u2019s use of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program, or SAVE, a federal database meant to determine citizenship status, saying it could disenfranchise eligible voters by falsely flagging them as noncitizens.<\/p>\n
Ms. Nelson also found herself at odds with fellow Republicans over the state\u2019s primary elections system. Last year, the Republican Party of Texas sued Ms. Nelson, arguing that the state should allow political parties to bar voters who are not officially affiliated with their party from voting in their primaries. Mr. Paxton, the Texas attorney general and the state\u2019s Republican nominee for the Senate, sided<\/a> with the state party soon after.<\/p>\n