Lawyer wins nod for House
Democratic chairs select Thierry by a two-vote margin for District 146 seat
For the third time in two months, Democratic precinct chairs hand-picked a nominee to fill an empty slot on the party’s November ballot.
By a two-vote margin, Houston attorney Shawn Thierry won the party nomination Saturday for the House District 146 seat, which was vacated by Rep. Borris Miles following the death of former Harris County Commissioner El Franco Lee. Miles was tapped to fill the seat of Sen. Rodney Ellis, who was picked to replace Lee as the Democratic nominee for Precinct 1 commissioner.
Thierry, 47, faced candidates Erica Lee Carter, a Harris County Department of Education trustee and daughter of U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, and Larry Blackmon, a former educator and City Council candidate.
The three candidates milled around a packed room Saturday morning at the Sunnyside Multi-Service Center, chatting with community members. Party Chair Lane Lewis paraphrased Robert Frost to start the meeting, telling the audience there were still “miles before we sleep.”
Then, two dozen precinct chairs, seated in the center of the room, were asked to nominate and vote for an officer to preside over the special election. When two people were nominated with 12 votes each, they turned to a coin toss on stage. One man in the audience whispered, “Tails
never fails.” He was right.
The three contenders each gave a three-minute speech. Thierry spoke last, giving an energetic address that went over time and drew both cheers and boos from the crowd. She later said she went off-script in the speech, which at times seemed to target Carter directly. At one point, Thierry said that “everybody is a legacy in this room; everybody comes from somebody.”
She stressed that she not only grew up and attended school in the area but still chooses to live in the district today. She also mentors students at area schools.
“I am HD 146,” she began. “Pat Neff Elementary — HD 146. Welch Middle School — HD 146. Westbury High School — HD 146.”
As time ran out, she told the crowd, “You cannot bring anybody with you when that door closes in that chamber.”
After one round of voting by raising hands, Thierry had 12 votes, Carter had 11 and Blackmon 1. This led to a runoff between Thierry and Carter.
Instead of raising hands, precinct chairs stood in line for their candidate of choice. Precinct chairs lined up facing each other about 10 feet apart. This time, Thierry beat Carter by two votes, 13 to 11.
Thierry is familiar with the precinct chair nomination process. She ran for judge for the 507th Family District Court this summer, losing by two votes. In 2010, she ran for a position in the 157th District Court. She said she decided to run for Miles’ seat after several precinct chairs encouraged her.
District 146 covers the city’s southeast and southwest sides, spanning from Sunnyside to Sharpstown, with a population of about 175,000 people. About 29 percent of district resident incomes fall below the poverty line, according to a district profile from the Texas Legislative Council. Miles was elected in 2006.
Thierry plans to fight against school vouchers and push for funding for mental health services in schools as some of her first priorities, she said.
With no Republican running, Thierry almost certainly will take office in January and report to Austin to represent her district for the next legislative session.