Longtime Texas House representative facing multiple primary challengers

Rep. Shawn Thierry, D-Houston, is seeking reelection for a fifth term to represent House District 146 in south Houston. In this election, Thierry faces two primary challengers: Lauren Ashley Simmons and Ashton Woods.

Editor's Note: The above video explains how the Texas March primary is often more important than the November general election.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Rep. Shawn Thierry, D-Houston, is seeking reelection for a fifth term to represent House District 146 in south Houston. In this election, Thierry faces two primary challengers: Lauren Ashley Simmons and Ashton Woods.

In her own campaign announcement, Thierry said her successes include addressing maternal mortality, enhancing school safety, combating human trafficking and working on tax relief efforts.

According to the two Democratic challengers, they argue what makes Thierry vulnerable is voting at times with Republican lawmakers on certain issues. They contend she's out of touch with the values of their district, setting up an intraparty fight for voters to resolve in the March 5 primary.

In the last Texas legislative session, Thierry joined three other Democrats and all the House Republicans in supporting Senate Bill 14, which limits health care options for transgender minors.

At the time, Thierry released a lengthy statement saying she voted for SB 14 to protect Texas children.

“In fact, while many of my constituents encouraged me to vote in favor of this legislation, hostile activists on social media platforms have made nasty political threats to influence my vote against the bill," Thierry said. "These personal, and even racist, attacks on me as an African American woman are neither productive or persuasive. It remains my legislative duty and moral obligation to vote the conscience and core values of my constituency. I have done this today with an open heart and a clear mind.”

Simmons said she intends to make supporting public education as one of her main focuses during the primary campaign. She also called expanding access to health care as another priority, which is part of the reason why she decided to challenge Thierry.

"I want to be a representative for my district because I love where I live," she said. "I love my neighbors, and it's a great place to be. But it could be so much better."

Woods, an activist who founded the Black Lives Matter chapter in Houston, campaigned against Thierry in the Democratic nomination in 2020, but lost the primary by nearly 35 percentage points. He called her vote on SB 14 “the last straw” in making his decision to run against her a second time.

Woods said the first thing he’d like to do is “build space” for his community.

“I believe in creating spaces for the marginalized and for people to be a voice for themselves,” he explained. “I don’t want to be a voice for the voiceless. I want to be a space builder, where people can come in and actually be heard, not anecdotally, but taken seriously about the needs and also educating people about who to be mad at.”