Anti-LGBTQ vote is defining the Democratic state House runoff in south Houston

The Texas House District 146 Democratic primary was never just about one vote on health care for transgender children, the candidates say, but it certainly is now as the runoff election nears.

That is thanks to a shift in strategy by Rep. Shawn Thierry, who is leaning on Black Christian support by now touting her 2022 vote to bar gender-transitioning care for minors.

Her current move is a bid to reverse the results of the March 5 primary that saw the four-term Democrat come within fewer than 100 votes of being unseated by labor organizer Lauren Ashley Simmons.

“I have no choice now because there is so much misinformation,” Thierry said. “I ran on my record, but my opponent has doubled down on these issues.”

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In her reelection bid, Rep. Shawn Thierry tests whether Democrats will tolerate anti-LGBTQ votes

Thierry, 54, an attorney, put that strategy on display earlier this month when she gathered with a group of church leaders, a move she hopes will help her win the May 28 runoff because of “the pivotal role that the Black church has shaping African-American civic engagement and mobilizing communities against societal injustices.”

“I would like for this to be a sign to all legislators, and those who seek to be a legislator, that you too can enjoy this type of support when you stand for righteousness,” M.D Morrison Sr., the pastor at New Faith Baptist Church Northeast, said during the event. “You too can enjoy this type of solidarity from the faith community when you stand simply for what is right.”

The faith leaders argued that Thierry’s eight years in the legislature demands their support because she knows her district and said her votes reflect the community she represents.

Thierry said she only seeks a reasoned discussion about a complicated issue, but she also used inflammatory language at the event, arguing she is being targeted by her own party for voting against the “castration of Black babies.”

That has coincided with a blitz of media appearances, including a podcast interview where she conflated the issue with the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and the international concern over the high number of women and children reportedly killed in the conflict.

“We’re talking about genocide in Gaza – which is real, the Israelis in Gaza  – what about genocide right here?” Thierry said in April. “And so I stood up, hand before God, and said, ‘No.’”

Two Democrats. Different views.

Simmons, 36, said her decision to run against Thierry is not just about her vote to ban gender-affirming care.

Thierry began facing public ire from her party last year when she broke with Democrats to support three GOP priorities targeting the LGBTQ community: the ban on gender-transitioning care for minors, a bill to remove sexually explicit books from school libraries and a requirement that transgender college athletes play on teams that align their sex assigned at birth.

Simmons’ profile in Houston began to rise after a video of her criticizing state-appointed Houston Independent School District Superintendent Mike Miles. She felt Thierry had not pushed aggressively enough against the takeover and instead focused on publicly defending her three votes.

“There’s a total disconnect,” Simmons said. “You’re worried about a book ban when the kids don’t even have books at the school.”

The bills all would have passed with or without Thierry’s support, but she said she voted in favor of them because she personally supported them along with an “overwhelming” number of her constituents. Thierry said she is being made an example of to warn other Democrats against splitting from the party line on LGBTQ+ issues.

“Look at my voting record,” Thierry said. “I’ve got receipts. I’ve voted on 8,000 bills, and they can only point to three they don’t like.”

Simmons’ campaign points to the conservative donors who largely fund Thierry’s campaign, including PACs that support school voucher programs. Simmons argues Thierry has taken multiple votes and made public remarks that bring her closer into alignment with Texas Republicans than with her Democratic House colleagues.

Thierry was one of 11 Democrats to vote for the book-banning bill, for example, but she has been the most outspoken about her decision to split from her party, Simmons said.

Thierry is the only House Democrat to be forced into a primary runoff this election cycle.

Houston Black Lives Matter founder Ashton P. Woods, the third-place finisher in the primary, said much the same as Simmons. A gay man, Woods also mounted an unsuccessful challenge to Thierry in 2020. Woods said he is supporting Simmons.

“All the stuff (Thierry) did with the anti-trans bills the last legislative session just kind of capped off what I had been saying for a long time,” Woods said.

Woods and Simmons expressed frustration that the race has been framed in the media as a referendum simply on support for the LGBTQ+ community by Democrats, rather than a larger discussion about a legislator they say has consistently not been Democratic enough.

The race in HD 146 becomes heated

Thierry and Simmons are running to represent a majority-minority district that covers parts of south and southwest Houston, including the majority Black Sunnyside neighborhood.

Heading into the March 5 primary, Thierry ran a largely upbeat campaign publicly, pointing voters to her voting record that includes Democratic accomplishments like her 2017 bipartisan bill to address the state’s high maternal mortality rate for Black mothers.

That came with negative campaigning, accusing Simmons in mailers of being untrustworthy because of a 2010 arrest for shoplifting.

Simmons was raised in the Third Ward and fell on hard times after becoming pregnant at 19. She readily admits to the charge, which she says was for stealing baby clothing and food and was dismissed by a compassionate judge.

Thierry’s decision to attack her for the charge while also claiming to support criminal justice reforms like “ban the box” provisions that bar employers from asking about criminal history is further proof of Thierry’s slide to the right, Simmons said.

The GOP connections have always been there, Simmons and Woods said. The Houston Chronicle Editorial Board’s endorsement meeting for the race was simply the moment “the mask slipped,” Woods said.

That meeting grabbed the most headlines during the primary after the editorial board quoted Thierry dismissing Simmons’ endorsers as “the gay ones.”

Five of Thierry’s Democratic House colleagues had endorsed Simmons prior to the March primary, including Houston-area Reps. Jon Rosenthal and Gene Wu.

While Thierry maintains the quote was taken out of context by the editorial board, Simmons has since been endorsed by  U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, D-Houston, and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas. Houston Democratic state Reps. Alma Allen, Ann Johnson and Christina Morales have also backed Simmons.

“I don’t show up for just anybody,” Crockett told a gathered crowd before door knocking for Simmons earlier this month. “Shawn Thierry is just that bad.”

Early voting in Harris County begins Monday

As former dean of the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University, Dr. James Douglas has known and worked with Thierry, who graduated from the school in 1996, for years.

Douglas, a supporter of Thierry, said her decision to directly address criticism of her votes on transgender issues makes sense.

“She doesn’t have a choice,” Douglas said. “If she can’t turn that around, then she’s going to lose. She’s doing what she has to do in order to stay in office.”

Tapping into her support from faith leaders, Thierry has been organizing block walks with volunteers from churches. The influx of volunteers has tripled Thierry’s ground game, she said.

It is proof that the controversial votes represent the views of her constituents, Thierry said.

Thierry is not entirely abandoned by her colleagues.

She is endorsed by Democratic state Reps. Nicole Collier of Fort Worth, Harold Dutton of Houston, Barbara Gervin-Hawkins of San Antonio and Eddie Morales Jr. of Eagle Pass. She has added endorsements by state Reps. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo, and Sergio Muñoz Jr., D-Palmview, since advancing to the runoff.

Thierry says her position is not incompatible with the Democratic Party because it also supported raising the age for people to smoke nicotine and regularly backs measures to raise the age of criminal liability.

In a recent interview, she criticized Simmons for not publicly stating an age she feels is appropriate for a person to transition genders.

When asked, Simmons said the answer is simple, comparing the questions parents of trans children face to her own experience with her daughter’s treatment for sickle-cell anemia.

“Every single day those are decisions that me, her dad and her medical team make with no interference,” Simmons said. “As much as I don’t understand the intricacies of what gender-affirming care entails, as a mom, there is no length I wouldn’t go to help my child, so I can understand it.”

The entire discussion about Thierry’s votes has distracted from the issues Simmons said she would rather focus on, such as Medicaid expansion, the food desert in Sunnyside and gun violence in the district.

“These are things (Thierry) could actually do something about, or at least use your bully pulpit to speak out about,” Simmons said. “But this is the hill you’re dying on because you don’t want to lose your seat.”

The winner of the runoff will face Republican Lance York, a local business owner, in the November general election.

Early voting in the race begins Monday and runs through Friday.

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