As a black, queer, woman, Lauren has a deep understanding of these struggles – she lives at the intersection of discrimination based on race, class, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Born and raised in a solidly middle-class family in the Third Ward, Lauren attended public schools and Trinity United Methodist Church. She was a Jack and Jill kid, active in the acclaimed leadership development and volunteer service organization.

Lauren Ashley Simmons

When Simmons isn’t at the Capitol, she’s spending time with her family back in Houston’s Third Ward. Her son is graduating from Jack Yates High this year and headed to his mom’s alma mater, UT Austin, something she says she didn’t force on him.

Meet Rep. Lauren Simmons, a mother and freshman lawmaker from Houston's Third Ward

Lauren Ashley Simmons was born and raised in Houston's Third Ward. She attended public schools and the University of Texas at Austin. She has a son and spends time with her family in Houston's Third Ward.

Meet Rep. Lauren Simmons, a mother and freshman lawmaker from ...

Lauren Ashley Simmons was born and raised in Houston's Third Ward. She attended the University of Texas at Austin. She has a son and spends time with her family in Houston's Third Ward.

Representative Simmons is a mom and a union organizer who has spent her entire professional career in the labor movement, starting at the Texas State Employees Union and spending almost five years with the American Federation of Teachers. She is currently a CWA 1180 shop steward.

Biography

Lauren Ashley Simmons currently serves as a CWA 1180 shop steward. She previously worked with the Texas State Employees Union and the American Federation of Teachers.

Rep. Simmons, Lauren Ashley - Texas House of Representatives

Biography. State Representative Lauren Ashley Simmons (Houston) is currently serving her first term in the Texas House of Representatives. District 146 serves parts of Southwest Houston which includes the historic Sunnyside neighborhood.

Today, I am running for a second term to continue working for the people of District 146. We have an enormous amount of work to do. I would be honored by your support!

Lauren currently serves her first term as the state representative for Texas House District 146.

2026 Texas General Election

Economic security and justice for all working people. Increase Texas’ minimum wage to $15/hour and index it for inflation. Pass paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave for Texas workers.

Issues

Increase Texas’ minimum wage to $15/hour and index it for inflation. Pass paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave for Texas workers. Restore local control over the regulation of workplace conditions and other Labor issues.

Pass paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave for Texas workers. Restore local control over the regulation of workplace conditions and other Labor issues. Protect workers at risk of losing their jobs from AI and automation, by mandating retraining to use the technology at no cost to the employees, and no-cost training for any new jobs generated by technology.

Restore local control over the regulation of workplace conditions and other Labor issues. Protect workers at risk of losing their jobs from AI and automation, by mandating retraining to use the technology at no cost to the employees, and no-cost training for any new jobs generated by technology. Stop attacks on worker’s right to organize.

Protect workers at risk of losing their jobs from AI and automation, by mandating retraining to use the technology at no cost to the employees, and no-cost training for any new jobs generated by technology. Stop attacks on worker’s right to organize. Protect public sector pension funds and work to provide retirement security for all workers.

Stop attacks on worker’s right to organize. Protect public sector pension funds and work to provide retirement security for all workers.

Proposes raising Texas' minimum wage to $15 per hour and indexing it to inflation.

Supports paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave for Texas workers.

Calls for restoring local authority to regulate workplace conditions and other labor issues.

Proposes requiring no-cost retraining for workers displaced by artificial intelligence and automation, including for jobs created by technology.

Opposes measures that restrict workers' right to organize.

Supports protecting public-sector pension funds and expanding retirement security for workers.

- Proposes raising Texas' minimum wage to $15 per hour and indexing it to inflation.
- Supports paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave for Texas workers.
- Calls for restoring local authority to regulate workplace conditions and other labor issues.
- Proposes requiring no-cost retraining for workers displaced by artificial intelligence and automation, including for jobs created by technology.
- Opposes measures that restrict workers' right to organize.
- Supports protecting public-sector pension funds and expanding retirement security for workers.

Economy

Gun Safety. Pass common sense gun safety reforms, including an assault weapons ban, universal background checks, red flag / extreme risk protection orders, higher minimum age to buy a gun, and safe storage requirements. Restore local control over gun regulations in cities and counties.

Enact common-sense gun safety reforms – especially red flag / extreme risk protection orders. For women physically abused by their partners, the risk of homicide increases five-fold when the partner owns a firearm. Increase stable government funding for domestic violence service providers, including family shelters, rape crisis centers, legal assistance, human trafficking services, housing assistance, mental health services, and more.

Racial Justice. Pass reforms to minimize the number of people who get trapped in our criminal justice system, including relaxing mandatory minimum sentences, increasing diversion programs, increasing access to mental health services and emphasizing treatment over incarceration. Improve police accountability, including ending qualified immunity, appointing independent investigators for police-involved shootings that lead to death or serious bodily harm, reforming the rules around releasing body camera footage, and increasing the amount and quality of data collection to uncover patterns of unlawful bias.

Pass reforms to minimize the number of people who get trapped in our criminal justice system, including relaxing mandatory minimum sentences, increasing diversion programs, increasing access to mental health services and emphasizing treatment over incarceration. Improve police accountability, including ending qualified immunity, appointing independent investigators for police-involved shootings that lead to death or serious bodily harm, reforming the rules around releasing body camera footage, and increasing the amount and quality of data collection to uncover patterns of unlawful bias.

Make transformational investments in access to mental health services. Decriminalize marijuana possession and regulate marijuana in the same way we do alcohol. Continue efforts to address systemic racism, environmental racism, and economic racism.

Supports an assault-weapons ban, universal background checks, extreme-risk protection orders, a higher gun-purchase age, and safe-storage requirements.

Calls for restoring local authority over gun regulations in cities and counties.

Calls for stable government funding for domestic-violence service providers, including shelters, crisis centers, legal aid, and housing assistance.

Calls for sentencing reform, diversion programs, and treatment-focused approaches to reduce criminal-justice-system involvement.

Calls for police-accountability reforms, including ending qualified immunity and using independent investigators for fatal or serious police shootings.

Supports decriminalizing marijuana possession and regulating marijuana similarly to alcohol.

- Supports an assault-weapons ban, universal background checks, extreme-risk protection orders, a higher gun-purchase age, and safe-storage requirements.
- Calls for restoring local authority over gun regulations in cities and counties.
- Calls for stable government funding for domestic-violence service providers, including shelters, crisis centers, legal aid, and housing assistance.
- Calls for sentencing reform, diversion programs, and treatment-focused approaches to reduce criminal-justice-system involvement.
- Calls for police-accountability reforms, including ending qualified immunity and using independent investigators for fatal or serious police shootings.
- Supports decriminalizing marijuana possession and regulating marijuana similarly to alcohol.

Public Safety

Universal access to quality, affordable health care and mental health care. Repeal Texas’ abortion ban and remove all medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion access. Abortion is a health care procedure. Health care decisions should be made by patients in consultation with their doctors without government interference.

Repeal Texas’ abortion ban and remove all medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion access. Abortion is a health care procedure. Health care decisions should be made by patients in consultation with their doctors without government interference. Repeal Texas’ ban on gender-affirming care for minors and protect the rights of parents to make health care decisions for their children, in consultation with their doctors without government interference. Accept Medicaid Expansion.

Repeal Texas’ ban on gender-affirming care for minors and protect the rights of parents to make health care decisions for their children, in consultation with their doctors without government interference. Accept Medicaid Expansion. Nearly 1.7 million Texans lost Medicaid insurance when pandemic-era subsidies expired last year.

Improve police accountability, including ending qualified immunity, appointing independent investigators for police-involved shootings that lead to death or serious bodily harm, reforming the rules around releasing body camera footage, and increasing the amount and quality of data collection to uncover patterns of unlawful bias. Make transformational investments in access to mental health services. Decriminalize marijuana possession and regulate marijuana in the same way we do alcohol.

My first bill, HB 107, passed. This bipartisan bill, a Speaker-designated priority, establishes Texas’s first statewide sickle cell disease registry, a major step toward expanding research, improving care, and saving lives. This is a deeply personal win for me and my family, alongside the countless others living with sickle cell who have been overlooked for far too long.

Calls for repealing Texas' abortion ban and medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion access.

Calls for repealing Texas' ban on gender-affirming care for minors and protecting parents' medical decision-making with doctors.

Calls for substantial investments in access to mental-health services.

Passed House Bill (HB) 107, establishing Texas' first statewide sickle cell disease registry to expand research and improve care.

- Calls for repealing Texas' abortion ban and medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion access.
- Calls for repealing Texas' ban on gender-affirming care for minors and protecting parents' medical decision-making with doctors.
- Supports Medicaid expansion in Texas.
- Calls for substantial investments in access to mental-health services.
- Passed House Bill (HB) 107, establishing Texas' first statewide sickle cell disease registry to expand research and improve care.

Healthcare

A world-class public education for every Texas child. Restore control of HISD to democratically elected officials and unwind the damage caused by the TEA takeover. Fully fund a free, public education that enables Texas children “to achieve their potential and fully participate now and in the social, economic, and educational opportunities of our state and nation” – as required by the Texas Constitution and Texas Education code.

Restore control of HISD to democratically elected officials and unwind the damage caused by the TEA takeover. Fully fund a free, public education that enables Texas children “to achieve their potential and fully participate now and in the social, economic, and educational opportunities of our state and nation” – as required by the Texas Constitution and Texas Education code. Increase wages for teachers and educational support personnel to a level where we can attract and retain quality teachers and staff.

Fully fund a free, public education that enables Texas children “to achieve their potential and fully participate now and in the social, economic, and educational opportunities of our state and nation” – as required by the Texas Constitution and Texas Education code. Increase wages for teachers and educational support personnel to a level where we can attract and retain quality teachers and staff. End Texas’ over-reliance on high-stakes standardized testing. Our children are not standardized.

Increase wages for teachers and educational support personnel to a level where we can attract and retain quality teachers and staff. End Texas’ over-reliance on high-stakes standardized testing. Our children are not standardized. Spend public dollars on public schools, not private schools or voucher schemes.

End Texas’ over-reliance on high-stakes standardized testing. Our children are not standardized. Spend public dollars on public schools, not private schools or voucher schemes. Repeal laws and policies that amount to government-sanctioned censorship, including the recently passed book ban and ban on teaching critical race theory and other teachings on Black history.

Spend public dollars on public schools, not private schools or voucher schemes. Repeal laws and policies that amount to government-sanctioned censorship, including the recently passed book ban and ban on teaching critical race theory and other teachings on Black history. Repeal the law that dismantled diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices at Texas colleges and universities.

Repeal laws and policies that amount to government-sanctioned censorship, including the recently passed book ban and ban on teaching critical race theory and other teachings on Black history. Repeal the law that dismantled diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices at Texas colleges and universities.

Accept Medicaid Expansion. Nearly 1.7 million Texans lost Medicaid insurance when pandemic-era subsidies expired last year. Replace the $300 million in cuts to children’s special education funding announced last month, and provide adequate supports for all people with disabilities.

Proposes restoring Houston Independent School District control to democratically elected officials and reversing the effects of the Texas Education Agency's takeover.

Supports fully funding free public education for Texas children.

Proposes increasing pay for teachers and educational support personnel.

Calls for ending Texas' reliance on high-stakes standardized testing.

Opposes directing public education funds to private schools or voucher programs.

Calls for repealing state book restrictions and restrictions on teaching critical race theory and Black history.

Calls for repealing the law that eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion offices at Texas colleges and universities.

Calls for reversing cuts to children's special-education funding and providing supports for people with disabilities.

- Proposes restoring Houston Independent School District control to democratically elected officials and reversing the effects of the Texas Education Agency's takeover.
- Supports fully funding free public education for Texas children.
- Proposes increasing pay for teachers and educational support personnel.
- Calls for ending Texas' reliance on high-stakes standardized testing.
- Opposes directing public education funds to private schools or voucher programs.
- Calls for repealing state book restrictions and restrictions on teaching critical race theory and Black history.
- Calls for repealing the law that eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion offices at Texas colleges and universities.
- Calls for reversing cuts to children's special-education funding and providing supports for people with disabilities.

Education

Climate Action. Provide responsible supports and incentives to accelerate the energy transition to renewable energy. Restore local control over projects such as concrete-crushing plants, which are prime examples of environmental racism; completely overhaul the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to make it responsive to Texas residents, not big, polluting corporations.

Provide responsible supports and incentives to accelerate the energy transition to renewable energy. Restore local control over projects such as concrete-crushing plants, which are prime examples of environmental racism; completely overhaul the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to make it responsive to Texas residents, not big, polluting corporations. Restore the ability of Houston / Harris County to receive a fair share of flood mitigation funds.

Restore local control over projects such as concrete-crushing plants, which are prime examples of environmental racism; completely overhaul the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to make it responsive to Texas residents, not big, polluting corporations. Restore the ability of Houston / Harris County to receive a fair share of flood mitigation funds. Fully seek and leverage the billions of dollars from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act that could be used to provide hundreds of thousands of jobs for our regional economy.

Restore the ability of Houston / Harris County to receive a fair share of flood mitigation funds. Fully seek and leverage the billions of dollars from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act that could be used to provide hundreds of thousands of jobs for our regional economy.

Proposes incentives and support to accelerate Texas' transition to renewable energy.

Calls for restoring local control over projects, including concrete-crushing plants, and overhauling the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Calls for restoring the ability of Houston and Harris County to receive a fair share of flood-mitigation funds.

Plans to pursue funds from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act for regional jobs.

- Proposes incentives and support to accelerate Texas' transition to renewable energy.
- Calls for restoring local control over projects, including concrete-crushing plants, and overhauling the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
- Calls for restoring the ability of Houston and Harris County to receive a fair share of flood-mitigation funds.
- Plans to pursue funds from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act for regional jobs.

Energy & the Environment

Voting Rights. Repeal SB 1 (2021) that outlawed many of the voting reforms implemented in Harris County during the pivotal 2020 elections that led to record voter turnout: 24-hour voting, drive-through voting, and more. Pass same-day voter registration, universal mail-ballot voting, and protections for people registering voters who now are subject to criminal penalties for not following confusing, unnecessary, and burdensome regulations.

Repeal SB 1 (2021) that outlawed many of the voting reforms implemented in Harris County during the pivotal 2020 elections that led to record voter turnout: 24-hour voting, drive-through voting, and more. Pass same-day voter registration, universal mail-ballot voting, and protections for people registering voters who now are subject to criminal penalties for not following confusing, unnecessary, and burdensome regulations. Create a nonpartisan redistricting commission and end the unconstitutional gerrymandering of political districts in Texas.

Pass same-day voter registration, universal mail-ballot voting, and protections for people registering voters who now are subject to criminal penalties for not following confusing, unnecessary, and burdensome regulations. Create a nonpartisan redistricting commission and end the unconstitutional gerrymandering of political districts in Texas.

Calls for repealing Senate Bill (SB) 1 (2021), which ended Harris County's 24-hour and drive-through voting options.

Supports same-day voter registration, universal mail-ballot voting, and protections for voter-registration workers.

Calls for a nonpartisan redistricting commission and an end to Texas' unconstitutional political-district gerrymandering.

- Calls for repealing Senate Bill (SB) 1 (2021), which ended Harris County's 24-hour and drive-through voting options.
- Supports same-day voter registration, universal mail-ballot voting, and protections for voter-registration workers.
- Calls for a nonpartisan redistricting commission and an end to Texas' unconstitutional political-district gerrymandering.

Voting & Elections

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Supports increasing Texas’ minimum wage to $15/hour and indexing it for inflation.

Supports protecting workers at risk of job loss from AI and automation by mandating no-cost retraining and training for new jobs created by technology.

Supports stopping attacks on workers' right to organize.

Supports protecting public sector pension funds and providing retirement security for all workers.

Supports leveraging funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act to create hundreds of thousands of jobs for the regional economy.

Supports decriminalizing marijuana possession and regulating it like alcohol.

Supports improving police accountability by ending qualified immunity, appointing independent investigators for police-involved shootings, reforming body camera footage release rules, and enhancing data collection to identify patterns of unlawful bias.

For Candidate Lauren Ashley Simmons on Issue public-safety:  
Highlights the increased risk of homicide for women abused by partners who own firearms.

Supports increasing stable government funding for domestic violence service providers, including shelters, crisis centers, legal assistance, and mental health services.

Supports common sense gun safety reforms, including an assault weapons ban, universal background checks, red flag laws, raising the minimum age to buy a gun, and safe storage requirements.

For Candidate Lauren Ashley Simmons on Issue public-safety:  
Supports restoring local control over gun regulations in cities and counties.

Supports universal access to quality, affordable healthcare and mental health care.

Aims to accept Medicaid expansion to restore coverage for Texans who lost insurance.

Supports repealing Texas' abortion ban and removing unnecessary restrictions on abortion access, emphasizing that healthcare decisions should be made by patients and their doctors without government interference.

Supports repealing Texas' ban on gender-affirming care for minors and advocates for parental rights in healthcare decisions without government interference.

Supports increasing wages for teachers and educational support personnel to attract and retain quality staff.

Supports ending Texas' over-reliance on high-stakes standardized testing.

Supports spending public dollars on public schools and opposes private schools or voucher schemes.

Opposes government-sanctioned censorship in education, including book bans and restrictions on teaching critical race theory and Black history.

Wants to replace the $300 million in cuts to children's special education funding and provide adequate supports for all people with disabilities.

Supports restoring control of HISD to democratically elected officials and unwinding the damage caused by the TEA takeover.

As of July 22, 2026, Lauren Ashley Simmons’s website did not contain information on this issue.

Supports same-day voter registration, universal mail-ballot voting, and protections for voter registrants against criminal penalties related to confusing regulations.

Supports creating a nonpartisan redistricting commission to end unconstitutional gerrymandering in Texas.

Buket Urgen

Alejandra Gracias

Alexandria Nicole Butler

- Your state representative represents the interests of your local district in the Texas House of Representatives. The State House of Representatives, along with the State Senate, makes up your state lawmaking body: the Texas State Legislature
- Your state representative can author, sponsor, and vote on bills that may become state laws. 
- There are 150 members of the Texas House of Representatives, each representing a single district. Representatives must be at least 21 years old and reside in the state for at least two years before their election. 
- State representatives are elected to two-year terms during even-numbered years. There are no term limits. 
- State representatives make $7,200 annually in addition to a $221 payment per day during legislative sessions and mileage reimbursements.

Your representative and state lawmaker in the Texas House of Representatives.