Ronald Ellis Simmons (born September 21, 1960) is an investment advisor from Carrollton,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, who is a former member of the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. There are no Term limits in the United States, term limits. The ...

from District 65 in

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

southeastern

Denton County Denton County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 906,422, making it the seventh-most populous county in Texas. The county seat is Denton. The county, which was named for John B. Denton, was esta ...

. Simmons lost his bid for a fourth term in the general election held on November 6, 2018. He received 28,567 votes (48.9 percent) while his Democratic opponent, political newcomer and local business owner

Michelle Beckley Michelle Jane Beckley (born November 28, 1969) is a former Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 65. She was first elected in November 2018, defeating incumbent Republican Ron Simmons. Texas' 65th district repre ...

, received 29,894 (51.1 percent) votes.

Political life

Simmons served on the House committees of (1) Appropriations, (2) Transportation, and (3) Local and Consent Calendars. In 2017, Simmons obtained House passage, 88–57, of his bill to abolish

straight-ticket voting In political science, straight-ticket voting or straight-party voting refers to the practice of voting for every candidate that a political party has on a general election ballot. In some states, ballots may offer a straight-ticket voting option, ...

in Texas, a procedure still allowed in eight other states. With a straight ticket, a voter pulls one lever or touches one computer square to vote for all nominees of the same party. Most of the opponents of the legislation are Democratic, though straight-ticket Republican voters have constituted the majority statewide since at least 1996. Instead the Democrats claim the legislation would disenfranchise some elderly, disabled, or minority group voters. Simmons said that his intent is to encourage voters to make selections down ballot, including proposition and tax measures, instead of concentrating on a few offices at the top of the ticket. Simmons won his third term in the state House in the November 8, 2016, general election. He defeated the Democrat Alex Mendoza, 34,418 votes (56.3 percent) to 26,759 (43.7 percent). He ran in the 2018 primary against Kevin Simmons (no relation), but was then defeated by Democratic candidate

in the 2018 midterms general election in November.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Ron (Politician) 1960 births Baptists from Texas Businesspeople from Texas Dallas Baptist University alumni Living people Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives People from Carrollton, Texas Politicians from Dallas People from El Dorado, Arkansas Southern Arkansas University alumni Baptists from Arkansas Texas Public Policy Foundation people 21st-century members of the Texas Legislature