Senfronia Paige Thompson (born January 1, 1939) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she has represented the 141st district in the Texas House of Representatives since 1983 and previously the 89th district since 1973. She is the dean of women legislators in Texas and is the longest-serving African American or female lawmaker in state history. She has been elected to 28 terms in office.
When Democrats captured the majority in the 2026 Texas House of Representatives election Thompson quickly announced her candidacy for Speaker and was endorsed by many colleagues such as caucus chair Gene Wu.
Contents
Biography
Thompson was born in Booth, Texas, and raised in Houston. She has a Bachelor of Science in biology and a Master's degree in education from Texas Southern University; a Juris Doctor from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law; and a Master of Law in international law from the University of Houston. Thompson has two adult children, one grandson, one granddaughter and one great-granddaughter. Thompson is Catholic.
Texas House of Representatives
Thompson was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1972. She along with Eddie Bernice Johnson were the first two African American women to be elected to the legislature. Since 1983 she has represented House District 141, which covers northeast Houston and the Humble area.
During her freshman term in the legislature, Thompson attended a luncheon during which fellow state representative C.C. “Kit” Cooke greeted her by saying “Here comes my beautiful black mistress.” Thompson went to the Speaker of the House Price Daniel, Jr. to get permission to give a speech of personal privilege to rebuke the comments. When other members learned of her intention, they attempted to prevent her from giving the speech insisting it was simply a joke and threatening that she would not be able to pass legislation if she spoke out. State representative Bob Davis called a point of order on her giving the speech saying it was not germane to her legislative duties. Speaker Daniel allowed Thompson to give the speech in which she said that she would “not tolerate racial or sexual insults whether they were delivered by a fool with no forethought or done in a vicious manner” and that if another incident of this kind were to happen she would be forced to “take matters into [her] own hands.”
A notable piece of legislation she wrote is the Texas puppy mill bill. Thompson also advises the United Negro College Fund in Texas.
In October 2020, she filed to run for Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, 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.
Since 2021,Thompson has held the title of "Dean of the House", having served longer in the legislature than any other woman or African-American person in Texas history. She shares the title with representative Tom Craddick who is the longest serving male representative.
On June 2, 2025, it was announced that a portrait of her likeness, painted by Kermit Oliver, would be put on display in the Texas Capitol in recognition of her service.
On November 6, 2026, following Democrats seizing a majority in the Texas House in the 2026 blue wave, Thompson announced she had secured enough votes to serve as speaker of house during the 90th Texas Legislature, starting in January 2027. This would make her the first woman and first black lawmaker to serve as the speaker of the Texas House of Representaitves.