State Representative Senfronia Thompson, first elected in 1972, is the longest serving woman and longest serving African-American in Texas legislative history.

Now she is the first woman and the first African-American to run for speaker of the Texas House.

Thompson, a Democrat from Houston, became a celebrity to advocates for gay equality for her speech last May that opposed the amendment to add "agreements similar to marriage" to the Texas constitution banning on gay marriages.

In that widely-circulated speech, Thompson told House members, "Today, you are playing to the lowest common denominator — you are putting aside the real issues of substance that we need to address so that you can instead play on the public’s fears and prejudices to deceive and manipulate voters into thinking that we have done something important."

Thompson is equally direct about her reasons for entering the speaker’s race.

"I am serving my 17th term, and in the past three years, I have seen a disappearance of bipartisanship," she said. "Legislation gets tweaked to the advantage of business and the disadvantage of the public by the people in what we call the ‘owners box,’" which Thompson defined as the place in the House gallery where business lobbyists sit.

"This has caused a strain on the children and taxpayers of Texas," she said.

Thompson complained that Tom Craddick, the Republican who is current speaker and running for re-election "doesn’t allow members to vote their districts."

According to Thompson, some of Craddick’s GOP colleagues were defeated in primaries by challengers backed by the speaker and his supporters for voting against a voucher system that would injure their own school districts.

"Craddick’s people campaign against members who don’t walk in lockstep with him. They go into districts and talk against them to their chambers of commerce," Thompson said.

Playing the game

Thompson currently chairs the Texas Legislative Black Caucus and the Women’s Health Caucus. She is also a member of the Democratic National Committee. A former public school teacher who now practices law, her degrees include a Masters degree in Education and Masters of Law in international law.

She said that as speaker, she will help fellow Democrats be elected, but will serve the House in a bipartisan manner, allowing members to vote their districts, their hearts and their consciences.

"The celebrated bipartisan nature of the Texas House came from speakers allowing members to vote their districts," she said.

"In the 17 sessions I’ve served in the House, I’ve learned the rules and the games," Thompson said. "And by ‘games,’ I mean that I know that this is a give-and-take body, and we need to work on both sides of the rotunda."

Thompson said she has already collected some pledges in her race for speaker, but said the names of pledges will not be disclosed for several more months.

An honorable woman

The Lesbian & Gay Rights Lobby, now called Equality Texas, has given Thompson its Bettie Naylor Lifetime Achievement Award.

Thompson’s other honors include being named a Top 10 Legislator by Texas Monthly, awards from the Family Law Section of the Texas State Bar, recognition by Nation magazine and Woman of the year by the Texas Women’s Political Caucus.

Thompson’s legislative career includes passage of the James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Act, bans on racial profiling, contraceptive parity laws, and a variety of judicial reforms. She served as chair of the House Judiciary Committee for nine years. Her bills include one that requires hospitals to treat sexual assault victims in private rooms whenever possible.

She also passed the bill that allows broad use of powers of attorney, which are used by many gay couples. "I’ve also passed many bills making the probate system easier, including one that allows individuals to probate wills without lawyers," Thompson said.

Thompson said she has seen "the good and the ugly" after serving 33 years in the state legislature.

"When I came here it was no place for women or minorities. Women couldn’t even have credit cards," she said. "No one could be prouder of the changes than I am. No one could be more troubled by the inability of the top people in the legislature to get along."

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