A resident of Newark, Speight graduated from Lincoln University with a Master of Arts in Human Services. An officer in the Essex County Sheriff’s Office, Speight was first elected to the Newark Public Schools Advisory Board in 2007 and served as the board’s vice chair from 2007 to 2012. She was an aide to Senator Teresa Ruiz from 2009 to 2010. In the November 2017 general election, with Blonnie Watson not seeking re-election, Speight (with 18,308 votes; 43.0% of all ballots cast) and her running mate, incumbent Eliana Pintor Marin (with 19,088; 44.8%), defeated Republican challengers Charles G. Hood (2,622; 6.2%) and Jeannette Veras (2,574; 6.0%) to win both Assembly seats from the district for the Democrats.