The primary is now officially contested regardless of what happens in the Mayor’s race.
Isaiah Martin
Isaiah Martin, a University of Houston graduate who has been volunteering for Democrat Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s mayoral campaign, launched a campaign Wednesday for her congressional seat.
Martin, 25, briefly ran for an at-large seat on Houston’s City Council earlier this year before dropping out in March to “help other candidates get elected this cycle.” He helped Jackson Lee’s social media efforts and traveled with her on the campaign trail. He said he has been interning for her for two years.
Jackson Lee can run for re-election to the U.S. House if she does not win the mayoral race, and she clarified that she has not endorsed any candidates. Other hopefuls have filed to run for the seat Jackson Lee has held since 1995, including former Councilmember Amanda Edwards, who dropped out of the mayor’s race after Jackson Lee’s entrance.
Martin said in his announcement he is hoping to become the next Gen-Z member of Congress. If elected, he could become the youngest, a distinction held by Rep. Maxwell Frost, 26, D-Florida.
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The deadline for candidates to run in the primary elections is Dec. 11. Jackson Lee has not said whether she would run for re-election. A widely-expected mayoral runoff would occur right around the filing deadline, either on Dec. 9 or Dec. 16. A new bill passed in 2023 leaves that decision up to the secretary of state’s office.
You can see the announcement here and the video here. This is my district, so obviously I’m interested, and I’m very much looking forward to the October finance reports. Martin will have a ways to go to catch up to Amanda Edwards in that department, but a decent showing in the three weeks he’ll have in September for that report may tell us something. Do keep in mind, the primary election is now less than six months away. There’s less time to catch up than you think. As Yogi Berra said, it gets late early out here.