State Rep. Shawn Thierry switches to GOP, says Democratic Party has “lost its way”

" State Rep. Shawn Thierry switches to GOP, says Democratic Party has “lost its way” " was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

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State Rep. Shawn Thierry, a Houston Democrat who was defeated in her primary earlier this year, announced Friday she is switching to the Republican Party.

Thierry was ousted by primary challenger Lauren Ashley Simmons in the May runoff after she sided with Republicans last year on a handful of bills opposed by the LGBTQ+ community, including a measure barring gender-transitioning care for minors. She delivered an emotional speech from the House floor explaining why she broke with her party, remarks that went viral.

In a statement, Thierry said she switched parties because the Democratic Party “has veered so far left, so deep into the progressive abyss, that it now champions policies that I cannot, in good conscience, support.”

“I am leaving the left because the left has abandoned Democrats who feel betrayed by a party that has lost its way, lost its commitment to hard working families,” Thierry said.

Thierry was announced earlier this month as the director of political strategy for the U.S. wing of Genspect, an international anti-trans policy group. Founded in 2021 by an Irish psychotherapist, the group is part of a broader network of organizations that oppose gender-transitioning care for minors, and its members have testified in favor of bills across the world that would ban or limit the practice.

The partisan balance in the lower chamber now stands at 87 Republicans and 63 Democrats. Thierry’s term will expire before the Legislature reconvenes in Austin for its next regular session in January, however, and Simmons is heavily favored to win the solidly Democratic seat in November.

A number of prominent Houston Democrats lined up behind Simmons for her primary challenge, including some of Thierry’s current and former colleagues in the Texas House — an unusually public show of repudiation from an incumbent’s own party. Thierry countered with her own slate of endorsements from Black church leaders and a handful of Democratic lawmakers.

Thierry also broke ranks from her party to support a GOP bill aimed at removing sexually explicit books from school libraries, a designation critics feared would be used to target LGBTQ+ literature. She also voted for a bill requiring transgender college athletes to play on teams that align with their sex assigned at birth.

State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, a San Antonio Democrat who chairs the House Democratic Caucus, said Thierry had “chosen to continue to betray the values and priorities of her constituents” and “once again put money and title above principle.”

“If Thierry looks at a party taking away the freedom for women to control their bodies, cutting healthcare for millions, and led by a racist, petty convict and says I want in on that mess, I think that says more about Shawn Thierry than about the Democratic Party,” Martinez Fischer said in a statement. "Adios."

House Speaker Dade Phelan, responding to Thierry’s announcement on social media, wrote he was “thrilled to have you join us in championing the rights of parents, protecting the innocence of our children, and ensuring all voices are heard.”

“These are values you have always fearlessly advocated for, and your courageous decision to stand up for them when it matters most shows just how deeply you care for your community and its future,” Phelan said.

Other high-profile Republicans issued statements welcoming Thierry to the party, including Gov. Greg Abbott and numerous GOP state lawmakers.

Aside from her break on LGBTQ+ issues, however, Thierry has consistently sided with the Democratic Party on high-profile issues during her four terms in office. She voted against Texas Republicans' boundary-testing immigration measure last year, Senate Bill 4, that lets any law enforcement officer arrest someone suspected of illegally crossing the border. She has also opposed GOP legislation banning abortion and enacting a private school voucher system, and in 2021 she joined other House Democrats who fled the state in a bid to block a Republican bill overhauling the state's elections.

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This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/30/shawn-thierry-texas-house-party-switch/ .

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