Molly Suzanne White (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Gosney; born February 26, 1958) is a former Republican member of the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...

. She represented District 55 for one term, from 2015 through 2017.

Political activism

On January 29, 2015, White put up an

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i flag in her office, and instructed her staff to ask

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

constituents participating in "Texas Muslim Capitol Day" to "announce publicly allegiance to the United States", causing controversy.

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Greg Abbott distanced himself from White's remarks and called for "civil discourse" regarding matters of this kind. In a follow-up social media post in February, White stated that her remarks had been misrepresented. White explained that the "genesis" behind her statement was that the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR), which "started Muslim Day at the Texas Capitol" is "designated as a terrorist group by the United Arab Emirates."

PolitiFact PolitiFact.com is an American nonprofit project operated by the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, with offices there and in Washington, D.C. It began in 2007 as a project of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' (then the ''St. Petersburg Times'' ...

quoted a city council leader as stating that CAIR was among the organizations that started the annual Muslim Day. CAIR is not designated as a terrorist organization by the United States. In the 2016 Republican primary election,

Hugh Shine Hugh Dunham Shine (born July 27, 1952) is a retired United States Army Colonel, financial advisor, and politician. He is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing the 55th District. Shine defeated incumbent Molly Wh ...

defeated White by 118 votes. White requested a

recount An election recount is a repeat tabulation of votes cast in an election that is used to determine the correctness of an initial count. Recounts will often take place if the initial vote tally during an election is extremely close. Election reco ...

, which was granted; her loss was confirmed.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Molly (Texas politician) 1958 births Living people Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives People from Belton, Texas Businesspeople from Texas Belton High School (Belton, Texas) alumni University of Mary Hardin–Baylor alumni Women state legislators in Texas American anti-abortion activists American lobbyists Female critics of feminism Eagle Forum Tea Party movement activists Activists from Texas 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians