Brett Ligon – Filling the State Senator role as he prepares to run to keep it

THE WOODLANDS, TX – In one of the odder, multi-level political shufflings in Montgomery County in the past few years, the story of Texas Senate District 4 continues to keep people on their toes. Formerly held by Brandon Creighton 2014 until his resignation in October of 2025 when he stepped down after being appointed chancellor of the Texas Tech University System, the office underwent a special election in May of this year to fill the unexpired slot.

Republican Brett Ligon, the popular Montgomery County District Attorney since 2008, threw his hat into the ring against Democrat Ron Angeletti. Ligon took the office with 75% of the vote, handing the DA reins over to his longtime first lieutenant Mike Holley.

Because the open seat also coincided with the regular 2026 election cycle for the next full four-year term, a primary election took place. In the Republican Primary, Ligon faced and defeated Republican primary challenger Charlie Miller. Once again, Ligon secured his seat with approximately 75% of the vote.

Coming up next, election-wise, is the general election, where Ligon will once again face Angeletti in a battle for a full four-year term beginning in January of 2027.

Woodlands Online recently sat down with Ligon to talk about his new duties as a state senator and his plans for the upcoming months.

As District Attorney, your jurisdiction ended at the Montgomery County borders. Now, you’re responsible for all of Chambers County and portions of four additional counties – Galveston, Harris, Jefferson, and Montgomery. What was the first thing you noticed about this new, larger world?

So, we learned during the campaign that Senate District 4 is one of the economic engines that’s actually driving Texas; about a trillion dollars of Texas's $3 trillion GDP comes through this district.

As DA, you spent years advocating for victims for the criminal system. Does being a state senator continue or detract from this aspect of your life?

As many people know, I was a voice of victims for 17 years. Now I feel like I’ve been elected to become the voice of the citizens of Senate District 4. And so when I find good causes, like the Moses and Safe Haven law, protecting newborns, or whether it’s protections for police officers and firefighters, I’m going to continue to advocate for people like I’ve always done for the majority of my career.

You basically had to go through two back-to-back elections to get the job. Were you happy on the first day in office?

People would ask me, “Are you happy?” And I’d say, “No, but I’m relieved.” The general election in November will be the big one along with the other offices on the line, like governor and lieutenant governor. Things look well in District 4, but we’re going to continue to work on it, just like I have, for all the other campaigns I’ve ever been involved in. So, we’re going to lean forward, we’re going to stay positive, we’re going to stay on our message. The Ligon campaign doesn’t attack people; what we do is, we talk about our ideas, and we try to lift people up, not push people back down.

Looking toward – and possibly past – November, what are your priorities?

So when considering top priorities, for me, I look at everything through the lens of protecting the public. And I thought my career, when I became the elected District Attorney, was going to be dealing with murders and capital murders. As it turned out, I was dealing with drunk drivers and manslaughters. And much the same way, I find that flooding – of all things – is one of the key issues. It’s a key issue in Chambers County and in East Montgomery County. It’s a key issue in the Kingwood area. And so, I’m going to have to bend my will to learn those issues, make sure that people in the Lake Houston area are protected, people all over in Montgomery County are protected.

As a prosecutor, you’re looking to where you can make the most impact with your time. And right now, I believe dealing with infrastructure, making sure of flood mitigation, and overseeing flood projects have now really captured my attention. I think that the governor and the lieutenant governor will continue to rely on me to speak on the issues that have affected public safety for the last twenty years, and I’ve had opportunities from both of them to speak on those. So I think you’ll see a combination of the things I’ll lend myself to – which are the uniform services, police, and fire – but also that new focus on flooding and flood mitigation, all the things that are affected in Lake Houston, Lake Conroe, and East Montgomery County, and Chambers County.

Stay tuned to Woodlands Online as election season prepares to ramp back up for this and other major races in November.