Rep. Simmons, Lauren Ashley

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.

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.

Representative Simmons is fighting to keep our public schools strong by supporting teachers, students, and parents. She’s fighting to get health care for people who have to choose between paying for medicine or paying the rent.

Representative Simmons’ life experiences give her a perspective that serves many of those in District 146 well. She knows what it’s like to be without power and keep fighting. Lauren went literally overnight from being a comfortable middle-class kid to a 19-year-old mom on food stamps.

In Lauren’s words, “The Black women in low-income apartments where I lived taught me how to survive – how to stretch every penny. I owe them a debt. That’s why I do what I do.”

Representative Simmons is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Inc., the Texas State Employees Union, the Texas House Democratic Caucus, the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, the Texas House LGBTQ Caucus, the Texas Legislative Progressive Caucus, the Legislative Study Group and serves as the inaugural chair of the Labor & Workforce Caucus.