Senfronia Thompson Opens Race for Texas House Speaker After Republicans Lose Majority

State Rep. Senfronia Thompson of Houston announced Tuesday night that she will run for speaker of the Texas House, as Democrats took control of the chamber for the first time since 2003.

“Tonight, the people of Texas made history,” Thompson said in a statement announcing her candidacy. “For the first time in a generation, voters have entrusted Democrats with a majority in the Texas House, and with that victory comes an enormous responsibility to deliver for the people we serve.”

Democratic candidates led in 83 of the 150 House districts with every precinct counted, according to the Texian Partisan’s Election Desk, which reads the Secretary of State’s returns and the counties’ own counts. That is seven more than a majority. The results are unofficial until the state canvass, which runs from November 21 to December 7.

The Dean of the House

Thompson, 87, has represented District 141 in northeast Houston since 1973. She is the longest-serving woman in the history of the Legislature and shares the title of Dean of the House with Rep. Tom Craddick, a Midland Republican. She won re-election Tuesday with 86.9 percent of the vote.

If the House elects her, she would be the first woman and the first Black legislator to hold the gavel. She would succeed Speaker Dustin Burrows, a Lubbock Republican. Thompson also filed for speaker in 2020, when Democrats tried and failed to win the House.

On the opening day of the 89th Legislature in January 2025, Thompson led the House in the pledge to the Texas flag. Her recitation began with “I pledge allegiance to thee,” leaving out the opening words set in state law, “Honor the Texas flag.” It closed with “with liberty and justice for all,” a line from the pledge to the United States flag. The Texas pledge ends with “one and indivisible.”

Ten House Democrats backed her in the announcement, including Rep. Gene Wu of Houston, who chairs the House Democratic Caucus. “Texans voted for change tonight, and they deserve a Speaker who will put their interests first,” Wu said. The others are Reps. Rafael Anchia, Diego Bernal, Erin Gámez, Ana Hernandez, Donna Howard, Jessica González, Ann Johnson, Toni Rose and Armando Walle.

No other member had announced a run for the post by Wednesday afternoon. In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Thompson said she wants the House “doing the people’s business.”

The Gavel Decides What Gets Heard

The full House elects its speaker on the first day of the 90th Legislature, January 12. Members can begin filing bills on Monday, November 9.

The speaker appoints committee chairs and refers each House bill to a committee. That power decides which bills get a hearing and which never do.

It decided the fate of the bill to let Texans vote on Texas independence. In 2021 and 2023, Speaker Dade Phelan sent the bill to the House State Affairs Committee, where it died without a hearing both times, according to the Legislature’s bill records.

The Texas Nationalist Movement (TNM) said Wednesday that it will ask the new leadership of both chambers for one thing: a public hearing on a bill that sets that vote for November 2027. Whoever holds the gavel in January will decide whether Texans get one.