Donna Howard

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American politician (born 1951)

title: "Donna Howard" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["university-of-texas-health-science-center-at-san-antonio-alumni", "1951-births", "living-people", "politicians-from-austin,-texas", "democratic-party-members-of-the-texas-house-of-representatives", "women-state-legislators-in-texas", "american-nurses", "american-women-nurses", "21st-century-american-women-politicians", "21st-century-members-of-the-texas-legislature"] description: "American politician (born 1951)" topic_path: "society/education" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Howard" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American politician (born 1951) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Donna Howard
image name	DonnaHoward.jpg
state_house	Texas
district	48th
term_start	March 2, 2006
preceded	Todd Baxter
office1	Chair of the Texas House
Women's Health Caucus
term_start1	January 24, 2020
preceded1	Jessica Farrar
party	Democratic
birth_date
birth_place	Austin, Texas, U.S.
alma_mater
residence	Austin, Texas
spouse	Derek Howard
profession	Community advocate
Critical care nurse
blank1	Signature
data1	[[File:Donna Howard Signature.png
blank2	Website
data2
::

Donna Smelser Howard (born October 25, 1951) is a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing the 48th District since her election in 2006. She currently serves as vice chair of the House Administration Committee and also serves on the Appropriations Committee, the Higher Education Committee, and the Appropriations Sub-Committees on Article III and on Budget Transparency and Reform.

Early life, education, and early career

Howard was born in Austin, Texas. She graduated from Reagan High School in Austin before moving on to the University of Texas at Austin, where she earned a B.A. in Nursing in 1974 and an M.A. in Health Administration in 1977.

Howard worked as a critical-care nurse at Brackenrige Hospital and Seton Hospital in Austin. While at Seton, she helped start the Good Health program and served as District 5 President of the Texas Nurse's Association. Howard also served on the University of Texas faculty as a Health Education instructor.

Political career

From 1996 to 1999, Howard served on the Eanes Independent School District school board.

On February 14, 2006, Howard defeated Republican Ben Bentzin in a special election runoff to replace Todd Baxter.

In the 2006 general election, Howard was again to face Bentzin, but Bentzin ultimately withdrew from the race, which Howard won by a wide margin.

Howard retained her seat in 2008, defeating Republican Pamela Waggoner.

In 2009, the Texas Association of Deans and Directors of Professional Nursing Programs honored Howard with its Champion for Nursing Education Award.

In 2010, Howard narrowly defeated former Texas Longhorn and Denver Broncos player Dan Neil. On election day, the Secretary of State of Texas certified Howard as the winner by 16 votes. Following a recount requested by Neil, the Secretary of State found Howard to still be the winner, though by only 12 votes. Neil then requested that the election be investigated by the House of Representatives. Even with the 12 vote victory that the Secretary of State considers official, it is the closest Texas House race on record.

In 2011, Howard was the recipient of the 2011 Dr. Dorothy J. Lovett Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Texas School of Nursing and was inducted in the University of Texas College of Education Hall of Honor.

In 2019, Howard authored H.B. 1590, which created a Sexual Assault Survivors Task Force in the Governor's Office to collect information on agencies' responses to sexual assaults and develop best practices. The bill passed unanimously in the House and Senate and was signed by the Governor. The Task Force began meeting on February 6, 2020, and is due to deliver a series of reports to the Texas Legislature on November 1, 2020.

Texas Monthly named Howard a Best Lawmaker in June 2019 for her work during Texas' 86th Legislative session.

Electoral history

Election history of Howard.

2022

2020

2018

2016

2014

2012

2010

2008

2006

References

(28 November 2011). "Donna Howard Makes Re-election Bid Official on Opening Day of Filing Period". Texas Insider.
Murphy, Constance. (24 July 2010). "AISD seeks volunteers to help dropouts". KXAN.
(5 February 2010). "Rep. Donna Howard Honored with Champion for Nursing Education Award". Texas Insider.
MacLaggen, Corrie. (13 November 2009). "Three vie to win in swing district". Austin American-Statesman.
Smith, Amy. (17 February 2006). "Howard Defeats Bentzin". Austin Chronicle.
Nichols, Lee. (7 November 2006). "So Much for Those Travis Republican Districts". Austin Chronicle.
Whittaker, Richard. (4 November 2008). "House Dems Happy". Austin Chronicle.
Eaton, Tim. (23 November 2010). "Dan Neil seeks recount in House race". Austin American-Statesman.
Eaton, Tim. (22 March 2011). "Rep. Donna Howard addresses House". Austin American-Statesman.
"2010 General Election official results".
"Lovett Award". University of Texas.
"The College of Education − Donna Howard". University of Texas.
THE 'CHRONICLE' NEWS STAFF. "Odds and Ends from the 86th Lege Session".
(6 February 2020). "Sexual assault survivors' task force convenes for inaugural meeting". KXAN News.
(2019-06-18). "2019: The Best and Worst Legislators".
Uncontested primary elections are not shown.
"2018 General Election TRAVIS".
"2016 General Election".
"2014 General Election TRAVIS".
"2012 General Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas).
"2010 General Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas).
"2008 General Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas).
"2006 General Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas).
"2006 Democratic Party Primary Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas).
"2006 Special Election runoff, State Representative 48". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas).
"2006 Special Election, State Representative 48". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas).

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