“That’s what matters to me. I desperately want the Republican voters’ voices to be heard in Austin.”
As many Texans become more concerned about the direction of the state and nation, they can find a valuable resource and advocate in North Texas activist Jill Glover.
Jill now fights to pass laws in the Texas Capitol that protect children, preserve justice, and advance freedom, but her story began from her desire as a Christian to see righteousness in our state.
Jill was born and raised in a little town in East Texas, about two hours southeast of Dallas, and has lived in the state her whole life. She’s been married 30 years and only recently got involved in state government.
“Shortly after Obama was elected, I really became concerned with the direction of our country. And it wasn’t until shortly after President Trump was elected that I became active in state politics,” Jill said.
She said it began when she met a new friend one day at a church prayer event, the beloved activist Debbie Terry.
“At that time, my son was in college, and I was trying to figure out what I was going to do with the next season of my life. And Debbie turned to me and said, ‘Come to Austin with me.’” At the time, Debbie was the area’s committeewoman on the State Republican Executive Committee, the leadership team of the Texas GOP.
“And so, I began traveling with her to those quarterly SREC meetings, and she introduced me to the Denton County Republican Party,” Jill said.
From there, Jill got connected with other local activists and became a precinct chair. After Debbie passed away in 2019, Jill was appointed to fill the remainder of Debbie’s term as SREC committeewoman.
Then in 2020, Jill was elected at the state GOP convention to serve again in the same role and soon after was appointed to be the chairwoman of the party’s legislative priorities committee.
All of that means Jill now works to turn the Texas GOP’s priorities into state law, encouraging citizens to engage with their lawmakers and urging those lawmakers to follow through on their word to enact the citizen-approved priorities.
“So that’s part of my job, to encourage [state lawmakers] to pass legislation and do things that are going to express the will of the people who voted for them as Republicans,” she said. “When you put an ‘R’ after your name, that generally means something. And in Texas, that means we expect they will certainly agree with the principles and preamble of our platform.”
Some of those principles are protecting babies from being killed in the womb, protecting children from gender disfigurement surgeries, protecting citizens’ right to defend themselves, and protecting a fair judicial system and elections.
Jill said she’s currently traveling around the state, talking to activist groups about legislative priorities and what they can do about it now, as the Texas Legislature is in session until late May.
“My committee now and others of us on the SREC are really trying to reach out to our Republican voters, and even Independents who agree with our principles, and channel some of that energy into communicating with our elected officials, because I really believe we are in dire straits right now as a country,” she said.
Jill added she’s been encouraged by the response.
“Every club I have spoken at recently—and we’re seeing this across the state—people are coming for the first time and are wanting to be involved,” she said. “They’re seeing the state of our nation and Texas and they want to know what to do and how to make a difference. In the midst of the concerning things happening, that is good news that more people are aware and are wanting to do something in this window of opportunity right now.”
She explained the state GOP has resources to help folks take action, including the “legislative priorities report” that Jill writes every Friday for their website.
“We’re providing that in the hopes that people will engage, and call, and email, and even go down to the Capitol and testify in person if they are able to. Because … this legislative session, much of the success of it depends on the involvement of our citizens,” she said. “They have got to let their representatives know what their will is.”
Jill said her top focus right now, among all of the important topics, is passing laws to secure Texas’ elections.
“If we do not have fair elections, unless we can trust the outcomes of those elections, then it’s going to be really hard to get the rest of our priorities passed in any meaningful fashion,” she said.
What motivates Jill? She wants to see justice enacted in our state because that will create an environment for people to prosper.
“Overall, I’m a Christian. What I love about our party principles is that they conform to biblical principles. The things in Scriptures that God tells us that are important for a nation, such as a fair government and judicial system, protecting life, traditional values in marriage, and strong families … we know that nations and civilizations do well when we follow that.”
In her free time, Jill enjoys reading, being involved with her church, and traveling with her husband.
