Ellen Cohen

"For the late singer Mama Cass née Ellen Cohen, see Cass Elliot."

Ellen Cohen (born 28 August 1940) is a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 134.

For the past 15 years, she has been President and CEO of the Houston Area Women’s Center, which is dedicated to eliminating domestic and sexual violence. In that capacity she leads a $5.5 million dollar, 120 person staff serving over six thousand women, children and men.

Ellen and her late husband, Lyon, moved to Houston with their two children, Marcie and Eric, in 1977. Shortly thereafter she began serving as executive director of the American Jewish Committee. For ten years she worked with the leadership from Houston’s diverse religious and business communities to foster mutual understanding and tolerance for one of the nation’s premiere human relations organizations.

In July 2005 Cohen was honored by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as an outstanding contributor to civil and human rights in Houston. She has also been the recipient of numerous awards including “Women of the Year Award” The Shattered Glass Award; Women on the Move; Celebration of Life Honoree; Leadership Houston Distinguished Alumnus Award; NAACP Outstanding Service Award and the American Jewish Committee’s Max H. Nathan Award. She also serves or has served on the boards of Congregation Beth Israel; Faith Trust Institute; American Jewish Committee; American Leadership Forum; Houston Area Adult Protective Services and the National Violence Against Women Advisory Task Force. Cohen is also a former president of Leadership Houston.

Endorsed by "Houston Chronicle", the Sierra Club, the Texas State Teachers Association, and other local, regional and nationwide organizations, Ellen Cohen was elected State Representative District 134, which includes Bellaire, West University Place, River Oaks and parts of Meyerland and Montrose, in 2006. Her competitors included incumbent Republican Martha Wong and Libertarian Mhair Dekmezian, a Rice University student. Cohen's campaign focused on improving public education, restoring children’s health insurance, finding solutions to the growing cost of college tuition and lowering homeowners’ insurance rate. During her 2006 campaign, Cohen out-raised incumbent Wong where the election was one of the most watched in the state - her opponent was elected in 2002 during redistricting making the district 55% Republican. Cohen stated during candidate forums where the district should have a representative who puts the residents, constituents, and the issues first, not partisanship first which Wong had done during her tenure. Several campaign ads circulated by Wong before the election attacked the following: the Children's Health Initiative Program (CHIP), immigration, and property taxes.

Legislation

Cohen's first piece of legislation which passed into law was to fund sexual assault programs where patrons of sexually oriented businesses would charge an additional $5 - the money generated went to these programs. Most recently, a state district judge filed an injunction stating the "stripper tax" was unconstitutional. As of April 2008, Cohen plans to have the injunction lifted despite opposition.