State Rep. Senfronia Thompson, the longest-serving woman and longest-serving Black lawmaker in any state, said Friday she has enough votes to win the Texas House speaker’s gavel when the Legislature convenes in January.
Her announcement came hours after state Rep. Eddie Morales Jr., a centrist Democrat from Eagle Pass and Thompson’s only other competitor for the job, dropped his bid and backed her. Thompson has not released a list of supporters or indicated how many members she has in her camp. State Rep. Rafael Anchia, a Dallas Democrat, described her majority as “overwhelming” and growing “every minute,” with every Democratic member and growing number of Republican supporters behind her.
“At the end of the day, the majority of the House is committed to me,” Thompson said at a news conference at the Capitol, flanked by a crowd of lawmakers including a handful of Republicans.
If elected, the 87-year-old Houston Democrat will become the first woman and first Black lawmaker to serve as speaker of the Texas House.
Thompson’s bid for the gavel comes after Texas Democrats routed Republicans in Tuesday’s midterms, capturing every seat in the state in the runoff and winning their first majority in the Texas House of Representatives since 2003. Democrats were poised to control more than 80 seats in the 150-member chamber, with some elections yet to be officially called because they were decided by razor-thin margins.
The shift in power virtually guarantees Republican Speaker Dustin Burrows of Lubbock will lose the gavel. During Burrows’ first term, Republicans unleashed new levels of partisan dominance on the minority party and embraced a list of long-elusive GOP priorities, including a new school voucher system, new restrictions on LGBTQ+ rights and a rare mid-decade gerrymander on the Texas congressional map, which backfired this week.
Thompson’s rapid coalescing of support marked a first significant show of unity within the new Democratic majority, with lawmakers on Friday emphasizing the many policy priorities they needed to address, from education and property taxes to health care.
Thompson said the House would not be a “dictatorship” under her leadership, and she said she would appoint members of both parties to chair committees — resuming a tradition of bipartisan committee leadership abandoned by the Burrows-led House.
“I’m not here to punish anyone. I did that when I was a parent,” Thompson said. “But I have my own ideas and I expect members to represent their districts, work hard and deliver to people the things we said we would do.”
To get there, “it’s going to take all of us working together, the expertise of the Republicans and the expertise of the Democrats, working as a unit,” she said, adding that the chamber would no longer engage in “bickering and fighting over little things that have no place in our legislative process.”
If her coalition remains intact through January, Thompson would become the first Democrat to control the speaker’s gavel since Hale Center’s Pete Laney, whose decade-long tenure ended when Republicans took power in 2003. His successor, Republican state Rep. Tom Craddick of Midland, still serves in the House.
Thompson’s elevation to the presidency would also create a historic trio of top Texas state officials, alongside Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa and Lieutenant Governor-elect Vikki Goodwin: Texas’ “Big Three” have never been all women. The speaker controls the flow and overall fate of legislation in the House, including appointing committee leaders and overseeing floor debate, making him one of the most powerful roles in state government.
Thompson launched his presidential bid around midnight on election night, while returns were still coming in. A news release announcing her candidacy was accompanied by a list of 10 Democratic House members, including four colleagues from Houston, offering what could be a first look at her leadership team — the speaker’s inner circle responsible for chairing key committees.
Initial support came from Anchía and state Reps. Jessica González and Toni Rose of Dallas; Diego Bernal of San Antonio; Erin Gamez of Brownsville; Donna Howard of Austin; and Ana Hernandez, Ann Johnson, Armando Walle and Gene Wu of Houston.
Other early supporters included state Reps. Ramon Romero of Fort Worth and Barbara Gervin-Hawkins of San Antonio, who lead the Mexican American Legislative Caucus and the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, respectively; John Bryant, Yvonne Davis and Ana-María Rodríguez Ramos of Dallas; Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio; Christina Morales of Houston; and Ron Reynolds of Missouri City.
The group of lawmakers that surrounded Thompson on Friday was much larger and included newly elected Democrats from across the state, in addition to at least three Republicans: state Reps. Drew Darby of San Angelo, Todd Hunter of Corpus Christi and Charlie Geren of Fort Worth.
In a brief interview, Darby said he was “encouraged by his comments about bipartisanship” and planned to make sure Thompson, who would be the first speaker in several years from a major urban metropolis, heard from rural communities.
“I served under a bipartisan administration,” Darby said. “We have accomplished great things. There are great needs in this state right now, and we must work together to make sure we meet the needs of our state.”
State Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress and chairman of the House Republican caucus, said some Republicans told him they respected the role of the caucus but planned to support Thompson because she was a longtime friend. GOP caucus rules direct members to vote for the candidate the group supports, which has not yet been decided.
“I’m not going to judge them for it — that doesn’t mean others won’t do it,” Oliverson said in an interview Friday morning. “I believe the vast majority of Republicans will come together and make a decision together, and be united and form an opposition party in the next session.”
Affectionately known as “Mrs. T” and respected on both sides of the aisle, Thompson was first elected to the Texas House in 1972, making the following session her 28th. She became known throughout her term for her advocacy on behalf of the oppressed and marginalized – “let the little dogs eat,” she said as she fought for measures such as raising the minimum wage, supporting victims of sexual abuse and protecting LGBTQ+ people from hate crimes.
Her supporters praised her longtime leadership — she has long served as a voice for decorum and civilized debate in the Texas House — and said she would be an inclusive speaker focused on policy and the return of bipartisanship to an institution increasingly divided by partisan battles in recent years.
“Dean Thompson’s leadership provides an opportunity for Texas and Texans to realize the benefits of policy-driven leadership over politics,” Davis said in a statement. “His understanding and commitment to governing for all rather than a policy agenda to exclude some will make a difference for all Texans. The message of this election is clear. Texans want their government to work for them.”
In dropping his presidential bid Friday, Morales Jr., the Eagle Pass Democrat, said he believes Thompson “understands the crucial and important role that border and rural communities have played in turning Texas blue.” He said he was “reassured to know that the border coalition will have a voice within his administration.”
As the press conference ended, the Capitol room overflowing with reporters, staff and lobbyists taking advantage of the historic moment, Gervin-Hawkins began to cry.
“To see the level of support that Mrs. T has, to have the first African-American woman, who was one of the first women – to be here and to be able to watch that at that time, it was just overwhelming to me,” she said.
Renzo Downey contributed reporting.
Gn usa
