Senfronia Calpernia Thompson (born January 1, 1939) is a state legislator in Texas. A Democrat, she has been a 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. There are no Term limits in the United States, term limits. The ...

since 1972 representing the 141st District. She is the former dean of women Legislators in Texas. She has been elected to 25 terms in office. Thompson also advises the United Negro College Fund in Texas.

Biography

Thompson was born in Booth, Texas and raised in Houston. She has a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in biology and a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in education from

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically Black university in Houston. The university is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund an ...

; a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law; and a Master of Law in

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

from the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

. Thompson has two adult children, one grandson, one granddaughter and one great-granddaughter.Senfronia Thompson. Biography
Texas House of Representatives. 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2013. She represents House District 141, which covers northeast Houston and the Humble area. A notable piece of legislation she wrote is the Texas puppy mill bill. Thompson is the dean of women legislators, having served longer in the legislature than any other woman or

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

person in Texas history. In October 2020, she filed to run for

Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives The speaker of the Texas House of Representatives is the speaker (politics), presiding officer of the Texas House of Representatives. The Speaker's main duties are to conduct meetings of the House, appoint committees, and enforce the Rules of the ...

, but the Republican Party retained control of the chamber in the November 2020 election. On May 30, 2021, she described her own family's struggles to exercise their right to vote to fellow Texas House Democrats as they strategized how to block Senate Bill 7. At 11:00 p.m., the Democrats staged a walkout of the House chamber to block a vote on the bill before the midnight deadline. She also drafted a bill that made prostitution in Texas a State Jail Felony. Texas is the only state to make prostitution a felony.

References

External links

Texas House of Representatives - Senfronia Thompson
- official TX House website
Senfronia Thompson For Speaker Of The House
- official campaign website
Project Vote Smart – Representative Senfronia Thompson (TX)
profile *'' Follow the Money'' – Senfronia Thompson
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campaign contributions * Thompson, Senfronia and Florence Coleman
Senfronia Thompson Oral History
Houston Oral History Project, October 2, 1974. {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Senfronia Members of the Texas House of Representatives 1939 births Living people Texas Democrats Texas Southern University alumni Thurgood Marshall School of Law alumni University of Houston alumni African-American state legislators in Texas Women state legislators in Texas 21st-century American women politicians 20th-century American women politicians Politicians from Houston People from Fort Bend County, Texas 20th-century African-American women politicians 20th-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American women politicians 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century members of the Texas Legislature 20th-century members of the Texas Legislature