Democratic state Representative Shawn Thierry’s list of political contributors reads like a who’s who of Republican mega-donors and Christian nationalist public school defunders. The Houstonian received $28,000 from the Charter Schools Now PAC, $25,000 from conservative Dallas billionaires Darwin and Douglas Deason, $10,000 from the pro-voucher Family Empowerment Coalition, $10,000 from the powerful pro-tort reform PAC Texans for Lawsuit Reform, backed by the Republican establishment, and $50,000 from the Texas Sands PAC, which was created to push for the legalization of casinos and bankrolled largely by Miriam Adelson, widow of Trump mega-donor Sheldon Adelson.
It was more than enough money to buy Thierry billboards by the Houston Rodeo leading up to the election—but not enough for the four-term state representative to beat out Lauren Ashley Simmons in the District 146 Democratic primary, after Thierry alienated liberal voters by aligning with Republicans last year to ban gender-affirming care for transgender teens. Simmons fell just shy of 50 percent while Thierry received around 44 percent, so the two will head to a May 28 runoff. Community activist Ashton Woods received 6 percent of the votes.
In comparison to Thierry’s high-rolling funders, as of March 4, Simmons received nearly $100,000 less than Thierry in total contributions and mostly in small individual donations. Leading up to the election, Simmons picked up a slew of endorsements from progressive organizations and the Houston Chronicle editorial board.
