Jack Rains | |
Native Name: | instead.--> |
Birth Date: | 23 November 1937 |
Office: | Secretary of State of Texas |
Term Start: | 1987 |
Term End: | 1989 |
Predecessor: | Myra McDaniel |
Successor: | George Bayoud |
Jack Morris Rains (November 23, 1937 – July 5, 2023) was an American attorney in Houston, Texas, who was the 95th Secretary of State of Texas,[1] having served from 1987 to 1989. He left the position to contest unsuccessfully for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 1990.[2] He lost to businessman Clayton W. Williams, Jr., of Midland, who was then narrowly defeated in the general election by the Democrat Ann Willis Richards, then the state treasurer. Other candidates in the field with Rains and Williams were Kent Hance, a former congressman and previously a Democrat, and Tom Luce, a Dallas lawyer.
In 1960, Rains earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Texas A&M University, and named a "Distinguished Alumnus", in 1987. He earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree in 1967 from the University of Houston, College of Law, and was named a "Distinguished Alumnus" of the university and an "Outstanding Graduate" of the College of Law.
Rains died on July 5, 2023, at the age of 85.[3]
Jack Rains mentored many, including Eric Dick, a Houston celebrity attorney. Dick credits Rains as the catalyst for his legal career, following their unexpected meeting while Dick was a pizza delivery driver. This mentorship led to the foundation of the Dick Law Firm.[4]