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Lea Simmons
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Lea Simmons (Republican Party) ran for election to the Texas House of Representatives to represent District 76. She lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Simmons completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Lea Simmons was born in Richmond, Texas. She earned a high school diploma from John Foster Dulles High School and a degree from the Ogle School in 2014. Her career experience includes working in community outreach.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Texas House of Representatives District 76
Incumbent Suleman Lalani defeated Lea Simmons in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 76 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Suleman Lalani (D) | 56.5 | 39,770 |
Lea Simmons (R)  | 43.5 | 30,615 | ||
| Total votes: 70,385 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for Texas House of Representatives District 76
Lea Simmons defeated Summara Kanwal in the Republican primary runoff for Texas House of Representatives District 76 on May 28, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Lea Simmons | 67.2 | 641 | |
 | Summara Kanwal | 32.8 | 313 | |
| Total votes: 954 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 76
Incumbent Suleman Lalani defeated Vanesia Johnson in the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 76 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Suleman Lalani | 63.5 | 6,494 |
 | Vanesia Johnson | 36.5 | 3,738 | |
| Total votes: 10,232 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 76
Summara Kanwal and Lea Simmons advanced to a runoff. They defeated Dayo David in the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 76 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Summara Kanwal | 35.6 | 2,771 |
| ✔ | Lea Simmons | 35.5 | 2,761 | |
 | Dayo David | 28.9 | 2,244 | |
| Total votes: 7,776 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Simmons in this election.
Pledges
Simmons signed the following pledges.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Lea Simmons completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Simmons' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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My name is Lea C.S. Simmons. I live in Fort Bend County. I was born in the city of Richmond, Texas at a historical hospital that used to be named Polly Ryon Memorial Hospital. My family Texas roots go back to the days of the Imperial Sugar Refinery where my grandparents met during the time that they worked there. I currently live in Sugar Land, Texas, where there are diverse communities, to this day. I have worked for my community as a volunteer, as a Precinct Chair helping Republican Candidates, and as a volunteer for my church. To me, being a normal person matters more than being a doctor or a lawyer. People want to know that someone is there that genuinely cares about them. I may not have a degree, but I have a servant's heart to help others to see the world as one unified place of dwelling, where people coincide together, but with different beliefs and backgrounds. I grew up around many different cultures, religions, and people. I want to represent my community as a resident. I want to represent Fort Bend County as a citizen. Most of all, I want to represent House District 76 with a positive message.
- Family, Justice, Freedom
- Concern for Fort Bend County
- Putting Texas Citizens First
I am passionate about social justice, human rights, healthcare, education for children that will help them have a better chance of a better lifestyle and future, for years to come. I feel the need to listen to the elderly, to the Veterans, show empathy towards the homeless, and I strongly believe that the family is important to the success of a happy home. I want to reach out to the local government, to the municipalities, to the judicial branch, to the schoolteachers and to the students. I am concerned about freedom of speech, religion, and protecting life.
I look up to my parents because they are always trying to help a person in need or volunteer at church. I would like to follow my belated grandmother's example because she was what I wanted to be when I grow up, a strong, courageous, God-fearing woman.
The film that I would recommend to someone who wants to understand my political philosophy is The Alamo.
The characteristics that are important to be an effective elected official is listening to people when they have a concern and thinking things through before making any decisions. Principles are important also because the citizens of Texas see when a person cares about being dignified and honest. It shows in the action and behavior of an individual. People want policies to be acted upon and followed through.
The qualities that I possess as an individual running for office are that I am a listener, and I am a very patient person when dealing with problem solving. I want to succeed for the people in my district.
The core responsibilities for someone elected to this office are to spend money wisely and to be honest how it is spent.
The legacy that I would like to leave is a safer Texas. I will start with my community because that is where my heart is.
I was in High School, and I met well-known Congressman that came to visit the High School students, and he spoke to us about the responsibilities of being a politician. I was a teenager, fourteen or fifteen.
My very first job was as a volunteer librarian in Junior High School. it was during the time I was showing interest in reading books and educating myself.
My favorite book is the Bible because it has taught me a lot of valuable lessons in my life.
If I could be any fictional character, I would be Nancy Drew, the original character from the classical series of books.
God Bless the U.S.A. plays a lot in my mind because it is so patriotic.
I have struggled with not having the chance to get to know every single person in my district. It has and always will be my home. I have had a long journey running my race. It is now up to the citizens to decide my future.
I believe the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature is to not attack one another, which creates lack of diplomacy. No one wants to put Texans in danger of having to pick and choose sides before coming to a conclusion who the better choice is. At the end of the day, legislation needs to get taken care of. Working together, again is needed to soften anger and become a tool of work getting done. The citizens of Texas deserve answers to their questions. The governor has executive amnesty when legislatures don't agree with something. I hope to work with our governor and state legislation to be a friend to ease the current situation of division.
My state's greatest challenges over the next decade will be to continue dealing with the border, which has not been solved yet as far as safety is concerned. Human trafficking and drugs are ongoing situations that Texans wish would decrease sooner than later. We will have to continue working with the border patrol and local police, Texas Rangers and Sheriffs to make Texas Safe Again.
I will use myself as an example. I grew up thinking that politicians had to go to college and have a lot of money to run for office. Experience is what people need or require to getting somewhere in life. I have had it said to me once that I need to get my head examined for running without experience. Putting into perspective, my opinion of politics, in a positive frame of mind as follows is my best answer. It is one of those things that comes as a learning experience, it gets better when you actually care to help others and that thought never goes away. I will make it simple; I love helping people.
Yes and no, I believe this time around, I will give a complex answer. The problem with taking sides in politics is that it can affect future policies and work ethics on both sides of the aisle. It also depends on the policy and the talking points of the issues at hand. Legal versus social issues creates havick and discontentment. On the other side of policy as we discussed earlier, diplomacy is the best policy. Social issues and climate issues have intertwined at the state level, it has affected Congressional issues, as well. To not complicate the matters, when the question was based on building relationships with other legislators, people are too eager to judge the motives on both sides. The great people of the State of Texas just want justice and equal rights. Let's give them that.
I am not sure until here lately of any particular legislator past or present, but one person that I think is an intelligent person is Nikki Haley. I have met her, and she is a kind, but strong individual. I consider myself of a similar way as trying to become a better listener with compassion for others but with dignified strength.
At first, I never thought about running for the Texas House seat in my district, until I saw that no Republican was winning last year, in the new district redrawn, in 2020 to 2021. I was always helping other Candidates to try to make it so that they could win the new open seat. I was saddened when no one had won, but I kept going by continuously helping others and helping my community. Educating myself since Junior High has paid off. I am now running, and I thought it would be just me, but my determination created the path for two more people to run against me. I was already a Precinct Chair for my community and carefully thought it through, so I decided to run for Texas House District 76 as a Republican Candidate. I have spoken on behalf of my community and about other issues. My current interest is to basically focus on making it past the March 5, 2024, Primary.
The most memorable story that I have heard from the community is the love for the Imperial Sugar Refinery. So many stories have been told about the people that used to work there. My grandparents worked and met there. They created and built a home right behind the Sugar Mill. To this day, my family and I still live there.
Why did the chicken go to Washington? To get an office in the West Wing.
if in any case there is need for it, then emergency powers are necessary. It has happened and sometimes it doesn't work out well because the citizens feel left out of the decision-making process.
I believe that compromise is the definition of working together to find common ground. Everything in life requires listening and learning. We are not born knowing everything, but if we listen to one another, we just might get more things done. I truly want to be a listener and a learner in my political Campaign and in life. I hope to get many policies done and continue to work with diplomacy and courage in the near future.
The first bill that I would introduce, would be to protect election integrity, if I am elected. It has been a strong topic of discussion in my district.
I am still working on the list of endorsements. I am filling out applications and waiting on confirmed endorsements from Texas Values and other reliable endorsements for my Campaign.
The committees that interest me are the Calendar Committee and any other that is available to be in. Currently I am a former Precinct Chair in my community. I was involved in the Outreach and Events Committee. Similar Committees I will also consider being in.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on December 20, 2023
Current members of the Texas House of Representatives
Leadership
Speaker of the House:Dustin Burrows
Representatives
District 1
Gary VanDeaver (R)
District 2
Brent Money (R)
District 3
Cecil Bell (R)
District 4
Keith Bell (R)
District 5
Cole Hefner (R)
District 6
Daniel Alders (R)
District 7
Jay Dean (R)
District 8
Cody Harris (R)
District 9
Trent Ashby (R)
District 10
Brian Harrison (R)
District 11
Joanne Shofner (R)
District 12
Trey Wharton (R)
District 13
Angelia Orr (R)
District 14
Paul Dyson (R)
District 15
Steve Toth (R)
District 16
Will Metcalf (R)
District 17
Stan Gerdes (R)
District 18
Janis Holt (R)
District 19
Ellen Troxclair (R)
District 20
Terry Wilson (R)
District 21
Dade Phelan (R)
District 22
Christian Manuel (D)
District 23
Terri Leo-Wilson (R)
District 24
Greg Bonnen (R)
District 25
Cody Vasut (R)
District 26
Matt Morgan (R)
District 27
Ron Reynolds (D)
District 28
Gary Gates (R)
District 29
Jeffrey Barry (R)
District 30
A.J. Louderback (R)
District 31
Ryan Guillen (R)
District 32
Todd Hunter (R)
District 33
Katrina Pierson (R)
District 34
District 35
Oscar Longoria (D)
District 36
Sergio Munoz (D)
District 37
Janie Lopez (R)
District 38
Erin Gamez (D)
District 39
Armando Martinez (D)
District 40
Terry Canales (D)
District 41
Robert Guerra (D)
District 42
Richard Raymond (D)
District 43
J.M. Lozano (R)
District 44
Alan Schoolcraft (R)
District 45
Erin Zwiener (D)
District 46
Sheryl Cole (D)
District 47
Vikki Goodwin (D)
District 48
Donna Howard (D)
District 49
Gina Hinojosa (D)
District 50
James Talarico (D)
District 51
District 52
Caroline Harris (R)
District 53
Wesley Virdell (R)
District 54
Brad Buckley (R)
District 55
Hillary Hickland (R)
District 56
Pat Curry (R)
District 57
Richard Hayes (R)
District 58
Helen Kerwin (R)
District 59
Shelby Slawson (R)
District 60
Mike Olcott (R)
District 61
District 62
Shelley Luther (R)
District 63
Ben Bumgarner (R)
District 64
Andy Hopper (R)
District 65
Mitch Little (R)
District 66
Matt Shaheen (R)
District 67
Jeff Leach (R)
District 68
David Spiller (R)
District 69
James Frank (R)
District 70
Mihaela Plesa (D)
District 71
Stan Lambert (R)
District 72
Drew Darby (R)
District 73
Carrie Isaac (R)
District 74
Eddie Morales (D)
District 75
Mary Gonzalez (D)
District 76
Suleman Lalani (D)
District 77
Vincent Perez (D)
District 78
Joseph Moody (D)
District 79
Claudia Ordaz (D)
District 80
Don McLaughlin (R)
District 81
Brooks Landgraf (R)
District 82
Tom Craddick (R)
District 83
Dustin Burrows (R)
District 84
Carl Tepper (R)
District 85
Stan Kitzman (R)
District 86
John Smithee (R)
District 87
Caroline Fairly (R)
District 88
Ken King (R)
District 89
Candy Noble (R)
District 90
Ramon Romero (D)
District 91
David Lowe (R)
District 92
Salman Bhojani (D)
District 93
Nate Schatzline (R)
District 94
Tony Tinderholt (R)
District 95
Nicole Collier (D)
District 96
David Cook (R)
District 97
John McQueeney (R)
District 98
District 99
Charlie Geren (R)
District 100
Venton Jones (D)
District 101
Chris Turner (D)
District 102
Ana-Maria Ramos (D)
District 103
Rafael Anchia (D)
District 104
Jessica Gonzalez (D)
District 105
Terry Meza (D)
District 106
Jared Patterson (R)
District 107
Linda Garcia (D)
District 108
Morgan Meyer (R)
District 109
Aicha Davis (D)
District 110
Toni Rose (D)
District 111
Yvonne Davis (D)
District 112
Angie Button (R)
District 113
Rhetta Bowers (D)
District 114
John Bryant (D)
District 115
District 116
Trey Fischer (D)
District 117
Philip Cortez (D)
District 118
John Lujan (R)
District 119
Elizabeth Campos (D)
District 120
District 121
Marc LaHood (R)
District 122
Mark Dorazio (R)
District 123
Diego Bernal (D)
District 124
Josey Garcia (D)
District 125
Ray Lopez (D)
District 126
Sam Harless (R)
District 127
District 128
Briscoe Cain (R)
District 129
Dennis Paul (R)
District 130
Tom Oliverson (R)
District 131
Alma Allen (D)
District 132
Mike Schofield (R)
District 133
Mano Deayala (R)
District 134
Ann Johnson (D)
District 135
Jon Rosenthal (D)
District 136
John Bucy (D)
District 137
Gene Wu (D)
District 138
Lacey Hull (R)
District 139
District 140
Armando Walle (D)
District 141
District 142
Harold Dutton (D)
District 143
Ana Hernandez (D)
District 144
Mary Perez (D)
District 145
District 146
Lauren Simmons (D)
District 147
Jolanda Jones (D)
District 148
Penny Shaw (D)
District 149
Hubert Vo (D)
District 150
Valoree Swanson (R)
Republican Party (88)
Democratic Party (62)
