State Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston) named eight Republicans as backers in her bid for Texas House speaker on November 6. All eight voted for Gov. Greg Abbott’s 2025 school choice bill. Thompson voted against it. Two years earlier, she voted to strip education savings accounts from a broader education bill.
All eight Republicans also backed bills requiring certain sheriffs to seek agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and letting parents block their own children from checking out specific school library materials. Thompson voted against both.
Two Democrats on Thompson’s speaker list filed bills Monday to repeal Texas’ school choice program and end the sheriff-ICE requirement.
Republicans on Thompson’s speaker list
- Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth)
- Tom Craddick (R-Midland)
- Pat Curry (R-Waco)
- Drew Darby (R-San Angelo)
- Jay Dean (R-Longview)
- Todd Hunter (R-Corpus Christi)
- Ken King (R-Canadian)
- M. Lozano (R-Kingsville)
Geren, Darby and Hunter stood with Thompson at her news conference. Geren nominated Speaker Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) in 2025. Darby, Dean, Geren and King joined Thompson in voting to strip school choice from the 2023 bill.
Thompson described her roster as a “growing bipartisan coalition of 90 Members.” It lists 82 Democrats, including Thompson. Democrats led in 83 of 150 House races in the unofficial state returns.
Lawmakers elect a speaker when the House convenes January 12, 2027. The Democrats on Thompson’s list could clear the 76 votes needed for a majority of the full House if their pledges hold.
ICE agreements and state border crimes
The 2025 law Thompson opposed requires sheriffs who operate a jail or contract with a private company to run one to request and enter into an ICE agreement. The agreements authorize local officers to enforce federal immigration law. Sheriffs who request an agreement must keep asking at least once a year until they secure one.
Thompson also voted against the 2023 bill that created state crimes for illegal entry and reentry. It made an illegal crossing directly into Texas from a foreign country outside a lawful port of entry a Class B misdemeanor and a repeat offense after a conviction a state jail felony.
School libraries and parental consent
The 2025 school library bill Thompson opposed, Senate Bill 13, lets a parent identify specific materials their own child cannot check out or use outside the library. It requires school boards to review proposed library additions and vote on them in public. It also requires state library standards to bar material containing indecent or profane content.
Thompson also voted against a separate parental rights package, Senate Bill 12. It included a requirement for written parental consent before students could join school-approved clubs and barred districts and charter schools from authorizing or sponsoring clubs based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Abortion, bail and property taxes
Thompson voted against the 2021 Texas Heartbeat Act, which barred physicians from performing abortions after detecting a fetal heartbeat, with an exception for medical emergencies. In 2025, she voted against House Bill 7, which authorized private lawsuits over supplying abortion drugs for use in Texas. She backed the Life of the Mother Act, which clarified when doctors can perform emergency abortions.
Thompson voted against tighter limits on personal bonds for certain defendants, a bill all eight Republicans on her list supported. She separately backed the constitutional amendment requiring judges to deny bail in certain violent felony cases when prosecutors meet its evidentiary requirements. Thompson and all eight Republicans voted to raise the school district homestead exemption from $100,000 to $140,000.
Repeal bills and committee control
State Rep. John Bucy III (D-District 136) filed House Bill 164 to repeal Texas Education Freedom Accounts. House Bill 123 by state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D-San Antonio) would end the requirement for certain sheriffs to seek ICE agreements and stop new grants for those agreements. State Sen. José Menéndez (D-San Antonio) filed Senate Bill 106 on school choice and Senate Bill 99 on sheriff agreements.
Thompson said she wants lawmakers from both parties to chair committees. The speaker appoints committee leaders and refers bills to committees. Giving Republicans standing committee chairs would require changing House rules.
Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa (D-Texas) has pledged to end school choice accounts, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. Both chambers would have to pass a repeal. Republicans are projected to retain their Senate majority.
Campaign donors
Thompson’s House campaign reported $690,192 on hand October 24. Her July and October disclosures show $20,000 from the Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC, $7,500 from the Texas Association of Realtors PAC and $4,500 from Texas Sands PAC.
Provided by Dallas Express
