Penny Morales Shaw (born March 17, 1966)^[1] is an American attorney and politician.

She has represented the 148th District in the Texas House of Representatives since 2021. Shaw is a member of the Democratic Party.^[2]

Career

Morales Shaw practiced law and spent several years in Washington, D.C. as congressional advocate for passing laws, including International Violence Against Women Act.^[2] She is a local business owner and held a multi-state law practice.^[3]

Morales Shaw served as the Deputy Chief for Harris County Commissioner, Precinct 2 before running for public office.^[2]

Elections

Morales Shaw ran for Harris County Commissioner Court in 2018, but lost with 48% of the vote in a close race.^[4]

She also ran for the Texas House of Representatives District 148th seat in a special election in November 2019, but only came out to 8% of the vote. Anna Eastman won the special election in January 2020,^[5] and was seeking reelection later in the year for a full term.

In the primaries, none of the five democratic candidates received the threshold to move on for the November 2020 election.^[6] Morales Shaw and Eastman were the top two candidates and advance to a runoff election in July.^[6][7] In the democratic primary runoff, Shaw defeated Eastman in a close race only by less than 3 points (or 200 votes).^[5] Morales Shaw ran defeated Republican Luis LaRotta in the general election with 63% of the vote.^[8]

During the November 2022 election, Morales Shaw ran unopposed in the Democratic primary and defeated Republican Kay Smith with 55.5% of the vote.^[9]

Texas House of Representatives

Morales Shaw took office on January 12, 2021. She was one of the Texas House Democratic members who walked out on the July legislative session, travelling to Washington, D.C. to advocate for federal voting rights legislation in response to state legislation following the 2020 election.^[10][11]

During the 87th Legislative Session, she was appointed to serve on the House Environmental Regulation Committee and the House Urban Affairs Committee. During the 88th Legislative Session, she served on the Defense & Veterans' Affairs, Environmental Regulation, and Local & Consent Calendars committees.^[12]

She is a member of the House Innovation & Technology Caucus, House LGBTQ Caucus, Legislative Study Group, Mexican-American Legislative Caucus (MALC), Texas Legislative Ports Caucus, Texas Women’s Health Caucus, and the House Caucus on Climate, Environment, and the Energy Industry.^[13]

Personal life

Penny Morales Shaw was born on March 17. 1966 in Houston, Texas, attending public school. Morales Shaw was widowed shortly after graduating from law school, raising four children.

Morales Shaw is a daughter of a United States veteran, often citing her father's service for her participation in veterans affairs issues.^[14]