Rep. Alma Allen, longtime Houston Democratic lawmaker, to retire from Texas House

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Rep. Alma Allen, D-Houston, announced on Tuesday she would not seek reelection after 20 years in the Texas House and endorsed her son, former State Board of Education member Lawrence Allen, Jr., to succeed her.

“I think I left the world a little better than when I found it,” Allen, 86, said on the House floor, surrounded by nearly every member in the chamber. “My legacy to you is love. Love one another. There’s some brains in this room — lots of good brains, lots of good ideas. And when we all put them together, what a wonderful world this will be.”

Before her 11-term tenure in the Texas House, Allen served on the State Board of Education for over 10 years. She began her career in education as a teacher and later school principal in the Houston Independent School District. She retired from Houston ISD after 39 years, then became an adjunct professor at Texas Southern University and Prairie View A&M University.

After her decades-long career as an educator, Allen devoted much of her time in the Legislature to public education issues, spending each of her last nine terms on the House Public Education Committee and thrice serving as the panel’s vice chair.

Allen announced on Tuesday her “retirement from everything,” to laughs. She said she would finish out her term through next year and go on to help young people run for office — including Lawrence Allen, Jr. in his 2026 run for the now-open House District 131 in south and southwest Houston.

“It’s time to pass the torch to a new generation, and I totally intend to pass my seat onto my son,” Alma Allen said Tuesday. “You will meet him real soon.”

Allen’s colleagues surrounded and applauded her as she announced her retirement. She was introduced and lauded by other Black women lawmakers, including her mentee, Rep. Rhetta Bowers, D-Rowlett.

“We honor and celebrate an extraordinary career of a woman whose legacy will forever echo through the halls of the Texas House of Representatives,” Bowers said, adding that when she was first elected to office, Allen showed her where the restroom was, complimented her dress but warned she would be cold on the famously chilly House floor and taught her how to put lunch money on her account. “Thank you for being my mentor.”

First elected to the Legislature in 2004, Allen is tied for the 11th longest-tenured member of the Texas House, and the sixth most senior member among Democrats.

Disclosure: Prairie View A&M University has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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