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Lauren Ashley Simmons
Lauren Ashley Simmons, a union organizer and HISD parent advocate, announced her campaign for Texas State Representative, District 146 today. Simmons will run in the Democratic primary election on March 5, 2024, against the incumbent representative, Shawn Thierry.
“Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm famously said, ‘If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.’ I am running because the people of District 146 have lost our seat at the table,” said Simmons. “Our current representative has lost her way and now votes with Greg Abbott and Republicans to take away our rights, destroy our public schools, and hurt our kids.”
Simmons is a union organizer who has spent her entire adult life fighting for the people who Greg Abbott is attacking every day. She currently organizes Black low-income women and Black migrant women to get fair wages and benefits, improved working conditions, and better job security. She has been an organizer and fierce advocate for Texas state employees and Houston teachers. She is a proud CWA member and shop steward.
Simmons is the mother of two children who attend HISD schools, which were recently taken over by Abbott’s Texas Education Agency. Simmons remarks at an HISD community meeting about the TEA takeover went viral, garnering 7.6 million views.
“I am fighting to keep our public schools strong by supporting teachers, students, and parents; to get health care for people who have to choose between paying for medicine or paying the rent; and to secure living wages for the very people that Greg Abbott and the Republicans are trying to keep down,” said Simmons. “I look forward to asking the people of District 146 to give me the privilege of fighting for them in the Texas House of Representatives.”
Learn more at www.LaurenAshleySimmons.com.
Rep. Thierry went rogue on book bans and gender affirming care in the last session, and I’m more than happy to see her draw a serious challenger. It’s a shame because she’s done some good work in the past, but you support laws that hurt vulnerable people, you get called on it. I note that Grant Martin is the contact for Simmons’ campaign, so I expect she’ll raise some money and send out a lot of mail. Keep an eye on this one.