Longtime Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) filed for reelection just two days after a stinging electoral loss in Houston‘s mayoral race and before the 6 p.m. deadline on Monday to file.
Jackson Lee lost the mayoral runoff election on Saturday to another longtime Texas politician, Democratic state Sen. John Whitmire, who will helm the nation’s fourth-largest city. The race had gone to a runoff after the pair of candidates advanced from the November all-party primary.
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The news of Jackson Lee quietly filing for her 16th term in office on Sunday was reported by the Houston Chronicle on Monday and confirmed by Mike Doyle, chairman of the Harris County Democratic Party.
Thank you to each and every one of you who supported me throughout this campaign. I do what I do for you and your children, and I look forward to keep serving you in the future. pic.twitter.com/OnzpdMCWIE
— Sheila Jackson Lee (@SJacksonLee) December 10, 2023
Although Jackson Lee has represented the Lone Star State’s 18th Congressional District since 1995 and easily won reelection since then, she will face competition for the primary from former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards, who was a former intern for the Texas Democrat.
Edwards had previously said she would stay in the race irrespective of whether Jackson Lee decided to run for her seat or not. Edwards ran for the mayoral contest before dropping out to run for Congress when Jackson Lee entered the contest.
“When we look at the critical need for economic opportunity, infrastructure, and the dysfunction in Congress, it’s no surprise that people are saying that it’s time for change,” Edwards said in a statement Monday morning. “It is time to do something different in this election so that we can obtain different results for the community.”
The two women are the only declared candidates so far running for the 18th District, which remains a solidly Democratic seat in the red state and will not determine if Republicans keep control of the House next year.
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Jackson Lee faced fallout from leaked audio of her berating staff with profanities during her mayoral race, which she later expressed regret over. “I know that I am not perfect. I recognize that in my zeal to do everything possible to deliver for my constituents I have in the past fallen short of my own standards and there is no excuse for that,” Jackson Lee said in a statement in October.
Whitmire won his runoff against the Texas Democrat by nearly 30 percentage points, 64.4% to 35.6%, to become Houston’s 63rd mayor.
