Erica Lee Carter to run in the special election for CD18

She says she’s in.

Erica Lee Carter

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s daughter Erica Lee Carter announced Monday that she is running to finish out her mother’s term in Congress.

Jackson Lee died July 19 after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She represented the Houston area for more than 30 years.

In a statement posted to Jackson Lee’s Instagram Monday evening, Lee Carter wrote that the people in the 18th congressional district had re-elected her mother to protect their interests and uphold their values, and that her mother had their best interest in mind until her death.

Lee Carter said that since her mother died, community leaders and Democratic activists had requested she finish her mother’s two-year term, which ends in January.

“After careful consideration, the answer is YES,” Lee Carter said in her statement.

Lee Carter called her mom the “ultimate finisher” who never took ‘no’ as a final answer.

“I cared for her until the end and if the people of the 18th Congressional district entrust me with their vote, then it is my desire to finish the 118th Session in the way that she would have, by supporting justice, equality, healthcare, human rights and economic opportunity for all,” Lee Carter wrote.

See here for some background. As discussed in the comments to this earlier post, the full-term nominee cannot run in the special election because state law (generally) forbids a candidate from appearing twice on the same ballot. I personally don’t see any value in one of the runnersup for the nomination filing for the special – this is for two months, with usually not all that much to do; the symbolic value of Lee Carter serving out the remainder of her late mother’s term outweighs the other considerations. I’ll be happy to vote for her, and I hope she wins outright so she has as much time as possible in office.

The main concern was that an election like this would draw a large field of mostly indistinguishable candidates and end up in a runoff. Lee Carter should be able to avoid that, and this development helps.

One person who has already pledged his support is Dr. James Dixon, pastor of the Community of Faith Church and head of Houston’s NAACP.

On Aug. 9, Dixon held a press conference officially announcing his intentions to seek that “interim” special election seat. However, he added a specific caveat.

“If, however, the Congresswoman’s daughter, my little sister Erica Lee Carter, decided to enter that race to fill her mother’s term, I would immediately acquiesce and put 1,000% of our support behind Erica Lee Carter,” said Dixon. “I would never find myself running against my family, friends and certainly not the daughter of the beloved, our precious one, Congresswoman Lee.”

That works. The filing deadline is August 22, which is to say next Thursday, so the potential for a surprise or two is still there. I’ll keep an eye on it.

Related Posts:

• CD18 special election lineup set
• Two more small updates on CD18
• We are starting to hear some names in CD18