Gene Wu

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Gene Wu
Image of Gene Wu
Texas House of Representatives District 137
Tenure

2013 - Present

Term ends

2025

Years in position

12

Compensation

Base salary

$7,200/year

Per diem

$221/day

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 5, 2024

Education

High school

Sharpstown High School

Bachelor's

Texas A&M

Graduate

University of Texas

Personal
Profession
Felony prosecutor
Contact

Gene Wu (Democratic Party) is a member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing District 137. He assumed office in 2013.

Wu (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Texas House of Representatives to represent District 137. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Growing up, Gene attended Ed White Elementary and Fondren Middle School on South Braeswood in Houston. After high school, he went on to Texas A&M University, where he graduated with a bachelor in science degree. Gene Wu went on to the LBJ School for Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. During his time there, Gene was awarded with a fellowship at the Texas Workforce Commission to improve community college and technical school standards.

Wu's professional experience includes working as a felony prosecutor in the Harris County District Attorney's Office in Houston, Texas, where he is a prosecutor in the 315th Juvenile Court of Judge Michael Schneider, Jr.[1]

After his graduation from the University of Texas with a Master’s degree in Public Policy, Gene became the Chief Clerk for the House Higher Education Committee for the Texas Legislature. Gene continued his education at South Texas College of Law. He then joined the Harris County District Attorney’s office.[2]

Gene is the President of the Houston 80-20 Political Action Committee and a Board member for OCA Greater Houston.[3] He has been a mentor and teacher for adults in the Skills for Living program, and regularly tutors at-risk youth at Sharpstown High School. For the past five years, Gene has been a volunteer and trainer for Neighborhood Centers Inc. In that capacity, he conducts monthly workshops where he helps people become United States citizens.[4]

Committee assignments

2023-2024

Wu was assigned to the following committees:

2021-2022

Wu was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Wu was assigned to the following committees:

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Texas committee assignments, 2017
Appropriations
Human Services

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Wu served on the following committees:

2013-2014

In the 2013-2014 legislative session, Wu served on the following committees:

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Elections

2024

See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Texas House of Representatives District 137

Incumbent Gene Wu defeated Lee Sharp in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 137 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Gene Wu
Gene Wu (D)
 
76.2
 
17,569
Image of Lee Sharp
Lee Sharp (L) Candidate Connection
 
23.8
 
5,484

Total votes: 23,053
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 137

Incumbent Gene Wu advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 137 on March 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Gene Wu
Gene Wu
 
100.0
 
3,308

Total votes: 3,308
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for Texas House of Representatives District 137

Lee Sharp advanced from the Libertarian convention for Texas House of Representatives District 137 on March 16, 2024.

Candidate
Image of Lee Sharp
Lee Sharp (L) Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Campaign finance

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Wu in this election.

2022

See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Texas House of Representatives District 137

Incumbent Gene Wu defeated Lee Sharp in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 137 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Gene Wu
Gene Wu (D)
 
76.0
 
14,451
Image of Lee Sharp
Lee Sharp (L)
 
24.0
 
4,559

Total votes: 19,010
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 137

Incumbent Gene Wu advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 137 on March 1, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Gene Wu
Gene Wu
 
100.0
 
3,148

Total votes: 3,148
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for Texas House of Representatives District 137

Lee Sharp advanced from the Libertarian convention for Texas House of Representatives District 137 on March 12, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Lee Sharp
Lee Sharp (L)
 
93.0
 
40
 Other/Write-in votes
 
7.0
 
3

Total votes: 43
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Campaign finance

2020

See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Texas House of Representatives District 137

Incumbent Gene Wu defeated Lee Sharp in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 137 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Gene Wu
Gene Wu (D)
 
81.5
 
23,502
Image of Lee Sharp
Lee Sharp (L) Candidate Connection
 
18.5
 
5,342

Total votes: 28,844
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 137

Incumbent Gene Wu advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 137 on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Gene Wu
Gene Wu
 
100.0
 
5,613

Total votes: 5,613
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for Texas House of Representatives District 137

Lee Sharp advanced from the Libertarian convention for Texas House of Representatives District 137 on March 21, 2020.

Candidate
Image of Lee Sharp
Lee Sharp (L) Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Campaign finance

2018

See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Texas House of Representatives District 137

Incumbent Gene Wu defeated Lee Sharp in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 137 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Gene Wu
Gene Wu (D)
 
88.3
 
17,616
Image of Lee Sharp
Lee Sharp (L)
 
11.7
 
2,338

Total votes: 19,954
Candidate Connection = 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 137

Incumbent Gene Wu advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 137 on March 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Gene Wu
Gene Wu
 
100.0
 
3,074

Total votes: 3,074
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2016

Elections for the Texas House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election was held on March 1, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was December 14, 2015.[5]

Incumbent Gene Wu defeated Kendall Baker and Dan Biggs in the Texas House of Representatives District 137 general election.[6]

Texas House of Representatives, District 137 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Gene Wu Incumbent 66.99% 18,088
     Republican Kendall Baker 30.29% 8,178
     Libertarian Dan Biggs 2.72% 735
Total Votes 27,001
Source: Texas Secretary of State


Incumbent Gene Wu defeated Edward Pollard in the Texas House of Representatives District 137 Democratic Primary.[7][8]

Texas House of Representatives, District 137 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Gene Wu Incumbent 64.73% 2,957
     Democratic Edward Pollard 35.27% 1,611
Total Votes 4,568


Kendall Baker ran unopposed in the Texas House of Representatives District 137 Republican Primary.[7][8]

Texas House of Representatives, District 137 Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png Kendall Baker  (unopposed)

Endorsements

In 2016, Wu's endorsements included the following:[9]

  • Houston Chronicle
  • Sylvester Turner – Mayor of Houston
  • Scott Hochberg – former State Representative
  • Rev. Bill Lawson – founding Pastor, Wheeler Ave. Baptist Church
  • Rep. Al Green – United States Congress, District 9

  • Dr. Alma A. Allen – State Representative, District 131
  • Armando Walle – State Representative, District 140
  • Senfronia Thompson – State Representative, District 141
  • Harold Dutton – State Representative, District 142
  • Ana Hernandez – State Representative, District 143

2014

See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2014

Elections for all 150 seats in the Texas House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on March 4, 2014. Those candidates who did not receive 50 percent or more of the vote in their party primary on March 4 faced an additional May 27 primary runoff. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in these elections was December 9, 2013. Incumbent Gene Wu was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Morad Fiki was unopposed in the Republican primary. Wu defeated Fiki in the general election.[10][11][12]

Texas House of Representatives, District 137 General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngGene Wu Incumbent 57.9% 7,155
     Republican Morad Fiki 42.1% 5,211
Total Votes 12,366

2012

See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2012

Wu ran in the 2012 election for Texas House of Representatives, District 137. Wu advanced to the July 31 primary runoff where he defeated Jamaal R. Smith. Wu defeated M.J. Khan (R) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[13]

Texas House of Representatives, District 137, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngGene Wu 65.8% 15,832
     Republican M.J. Khan 34.2% 8,245
Total Votes 24,077
Texas House of Representatives District 137 Democratic Primary, 2012
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngGene Wu (advanced to runoff) 43.1% 773
Green check mark transparent.pngJamaal R. Smith (advanced to runoff) 24.1% 431
Joseph Carlos Madden 21.8% 391
Sarah Winkler 11% 197
Total Votes 1,792

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Gene Wu did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Gene Wu did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Gene Wu did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2014

Wu's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[14]

Public Education

  • Excerpt: "As your State Representative I will be a committed fighter for public education. I will see that Austin works to support parents, teachers and school children. Furthermore, I promise to vote against any decrease in public education funding."

Safe Neighborhoods

  • Excerpt: "Crime is the most important issue for Southwest Houston. Our law enforcement budgets are stretched thin, and we have to decide on a new set of priorities. As a Felony Prosecutor with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, I understand the strain on our criminal justice system. Our office accepts more than 100,000 criminal cases that range from petty thefts to capital murder. We have to decide how we want police officers and prosecutors to utilize their limited time and resources."

Grow our economy

  • Excerpt: "We need jobs; good jobs that provide a livable wage. We must encourage companies to move into our community by making sure they have the tools for success. That means we need a large educated work force and a good quality of life for their families. Our state should invest in capital improvements and repair existing public infrastructure."

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.


Gene Wu campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* Texas House of Representatives District 137Won general$0 $0
2024* Texas House of Representatives District 137Won general$176,474 $187,930
2022Texas House of Representatives District 137Won general$240,734 $233,437
2020Texas House of Representatives District 137Won general$160,283 N/A**
2018Texas House of Representatives District 137Won general$232,457 N/A**
2014Texas House of Representatives, District 137Won $129,166 N/A**
2012Texas State House, District 137Won $306,315 N/A**
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Texas

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

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2023


2022


2021


2020


2019


2018


2017


2016


2015


2014


2013



Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Wu's father migrated to the United States from Guangzhou, China, and became a lawyer for the immigrant community.

See also


External links

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by
-
Texas House of Representatives District 137
2013-Present
Succeeded by
-


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Ray Lopez (D)
District 126
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John Bucy (D)
District 137
Gene Wu (D)
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Hubert Vo (D)
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Republican Party (86)
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Vacancies (2)