Julie Johnson makes history

A record number of out representatives and one out senator will serve in the upcoming Texas Legislature

DAVID TAFFET | Senior Staff Writer
Taffet@DallasVoice.com

State Rep. Julie Johnson made history with her landslide victory on Election Day, becoming the first out lesbian from Texas or any southern state to be elected to Congress.
Dallas Voice caught up with Johnson at her last official campaign stop on Election Day afternoon. She was outside Fretz Library on Belt Line Road in North Dallas, greeting voters and speaking to the press, and she was cautiously confident of the election’s outcome.
She was also being followed by a documentary filmmaker who was filming everything leading up to her election.

And just a few feet away was her opponent, Darrell Day, talking to voters before they cast their ballots.

Early voting among Democrats was strong in Johnson’s district, which has been heavily gerrymandered to favor a Democrat. Republican neighborhoods were moved from the 32nd congressional district to the neighboring 24th district to shore up support for incumbent Beth Van Duyne.

Still, Johnson was taking nothing for granted.

“Every campaign is hard,” Johnson said. “But I like campaigning.”

While her congressional district includes much of the district she has been representing in the Texas House for the last two terms, congressional districts are much larger. So Johnson had to introduce herself to many of her new constituents.

Johnson is well known among Democrats. She became a hero in the state party after her first campaign when she was the only person in her party to flip a seat from Republican to Democratic. She noted it’s easier for a party to hold a seat — as she did this week when she was elected to replace Colin Allred — than to flip a seat — as she did in her first election to the Texas House.

That year, Johnson flipped the seat in northwest Dallas County that had been represented by Matt Rinaldi, the right-winger who had written the previous session’s unsuccessful bathroom bill. Johnson won by supporting public education and got the endorsement of teachers’ groups throughout the district.

Allred flipped the seat in Congress that Johnson will occupy when he first ran for office. Prior to him winning the seat, it had been held for more than a decade by Republican Pete Sessions, who now represents a district in Waco.

Looking ahead
Johnson mentioned things she’d like to get done once she gets to Washington, noting that passing the John Lewis Voting Rights bill, the Equality Act and reproductive rights legislation are among her priorities. She said there’s work that needs to be done on immigration, and education, which was among her top issues in Austin. Johnson said education is mostly done on a state level, but she will work to make sure the federal Department of Education isn’t shuttered.

At the Democratic Party’s watch party at Lofty Spaces in The Cedars, Johnson’s race was called early, and she ended with a 20 point lead. She took the stage briefly to thank everyone in the room for their support.

On Wednesday morning, Johnson issued a press release saying, “Last night, we made history together. This win isn’t just for me — it’s for every person who’s ever been told they don’t belong, that their voice doesn’t matter.

“Texas is changing, and this victory proves that our state is ready for a future that embraces diversity, equality, and women who make their own choices about their futures,” she said.
Janelle Perez, executive director of LPAC, said in a written statement, “The South is often a battleground for LGBTQ+ rights, and in Julie Johnson we now have one of our own fighting for freedom at the federal level. Julie has been a fierce advocate for combating LGBTQ+ discrimination in Texas, and I know she will apply that same passion and dedication to protecting human rights nationwide.”

LPAC bills itself as “the nation’s only organization dedicated to advancing the political representation of LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary candidates.”

HRC Texas State Director Melodia Gutierrez hailed Johnson’s victory as “an historic milestone as the first openly LGBTQ+ person elected to Congress in the South.” Her election, Guiterrez continued, “sends a clear message about the winning power of equality across the country.”

Gutierrez continued, “As a lawmaker in the Texas Legislature, ground zero for some of the nation’s most ruthless anti-freedom attacks, Julie has been a dedicated fighter for civil rights and those most marginalized. Now, she will take those experiences with her to Congress so that every Texan — and every American — has the chance to thrive.

“As a long time leader at HRC, we could not be more proud that Julie, part of our pro-equality family, will be representing Texans in Washington,” she concluded.

Texas Legislature
Johnson was one of the original five members of the House LGBTQ Caucus. She and Rep. Celia Israel of Austin will be gone from the next session.
Israel stepped down from the Legislature to run for Austin mayor in 2022. While she lost that race, this week Israel was elected as Travis County’s tax assessor-collector.

Two new LGBTQ legislators are headed to Austin, both from Houston. Union and community organizer Lauren Ashley Simmons will replace transphobic Democratic incumbent Rep. Shawn Thierry in the House after winning the District 146 seat on Tuesday.

She defeated Thierry, who voted with House Republicans last year on bills targeting transgender youth and who has since switched parties and joined the GOP, in the Democratic Primary last March. This week Simmons easily out-paced Republican Lance York, taking 78 percent of the vote to his 22 percent.

Molly Cook, the nurse who won the special election earlier this year to replace John Whitmier when he stepped down from the District 15 seat in the Texas Senate to run for mayor of Houston, was elected this week to her first full term as a senator. She is the first out LGBTQ state senator in Texas history.

Cook won with 62 percent of the vote over Republican Joseph L. Trahan.

State Rep. Jessica González from Dallas, who was re-elected unopposed and is running for LGBTQ Caucus chair, said she would like to expand the organization from just a House caucus to a Legislative caucus that includes the Senate.

Dallas’ other LGBTQ state House member is Venton Jones, who was unopposed in his bid for his second term representing District 100.

LGBTQ House members Josey Garcia in District 124 (Bexar County), Mary González in District 75 (San Elizario), Ann Johnson in District 134 (Houston), Jolanda Jones in District 147 (Houston), Christian Manuel in District 22 (Nederland) and Erin Zwiener in District 45 (San Marcos) were all re-elected.

Counting Jessica González, Venton Jones and Simmons, there are now a record nine House members who identify as LGBTQ in the Texas House, plus Cook in the Senate, for a total of 10 openly LGBTQ Texas lawmakers.

Judiciary
Several LGBTQ judges were also elected around the state including Selena Alvarenga in Travis County, Patricia Baca in El Paso and Kelli Johnson in Houston.

…………………..

Dallas City Charter amendments

Of the 18 charter amendments that were on the ballot in the city of Dallas, these amendments failed:

• Prop C which would have increased the salary of mayor to $110,000 and city council members to $90,000.
• Prop T which would have required community surveys that would result in firing the city manager or giving that person up to a 100 percent raise.
  Two other controversial community organized proposals passed:
• Prop S waives the city’s governmental immunity from lawsuits and liability and can tie up the functioning of city government permanently.
• Prop U requires the city to hire approximately 900 new police officers within a year, regardless of qualifications of applicants and lack of ability to train that many new hires in that period of time.
  One proposition stood out as most controversial but easily passed:
• Prop R, which had the support of Willie Nelson, will “prohibit the Dallas Police Department from making arrests or issuing citations for marijuana possession or considering the odor of marijuana as probable cause for search or seizure, except as part of a violent felony or high priority narcotics felony investigation” for those with four ounces or less of marijuana.
  — David Taffet