Four Women Will Lead Texas for the First Time in History — and the Presumptive Speaker Is Houston's Own

When the new term begins in January, Texas will be led by four women for the first time in its history. After a Democratic sweep that ousted every statewide Republican official, the governor, lieutenant governor and comptroller will be women — and the presumptive speaker of the Texas House is a woman too, The Center Square reported.

The four are governor-elect Gina Hinojosa, 52, elected the state's third female governor and the first Hispanic woman to hold the office; lieutenant governor-elect Vikki Goodwin, 59, the first woman ever elected lieutenant governor of Texas, who defeated incumbent Dan Patrick; comptroller-elect Sarah Eckhardt, the second woman elected to run the state's finances, including the $1 billion Education Savings Account program she has pledged to audit; and Rep. Senfronia Thompson, 87, the presumptive next speaker of the House.

Thompson is the Houston name on the list, and the longest-serving one in Texas politics. She has represented House District 141 — northeast Houston and Humble — since 1973, making her the longest-serving woman and the longest-serving Black lawmaker in Texas legislative history. If the House elects her speaker in January, as she says she has the votes to do, she will be the first woman and the first Black legislator to lead the chamber. She says she will not run the House as a dictatorship and will work with Republicans to get things done for the state.

Two formal steps remain before the picture is complete: the House's speaker vote at the start of the session, and a special election Hinojosa is expected to call to fill Eckhardt's Senate seat for the rest of its four-year term. After that, the first budget of the new administration becomes the first real test of what this leadership intends to do with the offices it has won.