Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a towering political figure in Houston for decades and one of the longest-serving members in Congress, died Friday. She was 74.
Earlier this year, Jackson Lee had announced that she’d been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She had been in remission for over a decade from breast cancer.
Often a gusty public speaker with a driving work ethic, Jackson Lee appeared at countless community meetings, funerals and official and unofficial events in her district each week. But she had curtailed public appearances in recent weeks and looked frail at the few recent events she attended.
“Today, with incredible grief for our loss yet deep gratitude for the life she shared with us, we announce the passing of United States Representative Sheila Jackson Lee of the 18th Congressional District of Texas,” her family wrote in a statement. “A fierce champion of the people, she was affectionately and simply known as ‘Congresswoman’ by her constituents in recognition of her near-ubiquitous presence and service to their daily lives for more than 30 years.”
Jackson Lee was waging a reelection battle in the Democratic stronghold where she was first elected in 1994, cementing her status as a relentless campaigner who logged commanding back-to-back wins.
She became known as a fierce advocate for women and people of color, her House floor speeches and her zeal to use the media to get her message out. Hardly a week went by in which she wasn’t on a local TV station or stepping to the microphone at any number of events or news conferences.
Most recently, she’d lent her support to a federal version of the CROWN Act, aimed at ending discrimination based on hairstyles favored by people of color.
Jackson Lee gained a reputation as a demanding boss who sometimes could be tough on staff, brought to light most recently after a recording of a politically damaging exchange with a low-level staffer surfaced during her unsuccessful mayoral campaign last year.
After her mayoral loss to state Sen. John Whitmire, Jackson Lee changed course and announced she’d run for her congressional seat again. She was poised to secure a 15th term in office this fall after achieving a decisive victory in the March primary against upstart challenger Amanda Edwards.
Former Mayor Sylvester Turner said Friday night that what made Jackson Lee “truly exceptional” was “her uncanny ability to be everywhere, working every day for those who needed a champion.”
“Even if you disagreed with her politics, you had to respect her work ethic,” Turner said. “We can honestly say Sheila Jackson Lee left it all on the field.”
There’s a ton of coverage on this, and I’ll link to some at the end of this post. There are many tributes to Rep. Jackson Lee on social media as well, and most of the ones I’ve seen on Facebook include a photo of her with the person posting about her. That’s who Rep. Jackson Lee was, she was of the district, and she was there for the people she represented. I was running errands yesterday with Audrey, who brought up Rep. Jackson Lee’s death. I told her that she had been my Representative in Congress for almost 30 years, that she worked tirelessly for the district and her constituents, and that it was a little disconcerting for me to think about not having her as my Representative any more.
One of the criticisms you hear sometimes about long-term elected officials – “career politicians”, said with a snarl of contempt – is that they lost touch with the people that elected them. That was the exact opposite of the case with Sheila Jackson Lee. I’ve talked to a lot of people about her and what might happen after we got the news of her cancer diagnosis, and the thing everyone said in our conversations was that she was always there. Community meetings, school events, political rallies and parades and protests and celebrations, funerals and disaster recovery efforts, she was there. Here’s a couple of Twitter posts to illustrate:
my favorite memory of SJL was on primary election night 2020. TSU still had a long line of voters super late at night. she showed up. she wanted to make sure the polls didn’t close until everyone had voted. this photo was just after midnight.
— jen rice (@jen_rice_) 11:41 PM – 19 July 2024
I’ve seen her at the feast alone fire up the crowd about the need for more humane treatment of all people. I’ve seen her sling sweet potatoes. The COVID year, I swear she was heaving turkeys in people’s trunks.
There wasn’t a church fellowship hall she didn’t shake hands in.— Dug Begley (@DugBegley) 12:01 AM – 20 July 2024
Sometimes, she’d get so riled up talking to me, she’d grab my arm. It made taking notes tricky. I just started building in time to let her make her point. Or I’d shift her to my right arm.
It took some trial and error though. She wasn’t really someone you could maneuver easily.— Dug Begley (@DugBegley) 12:01 AM – 20 July 2024
Sad to see the passing of Sheila Jackson Lee, a true Houston legend who was tenacious in representing her district.
I don’t say that lightly. Not only was she always in her district but she rarely missed votes in Congress until her cancer diagnosis.
— Jeremy Wallace (@JeremySWallace) 11:38 PM – 19 July 2024
Those are all reporters, not political allies. There’s so much more that could be said, and I hope we get a good and proper biography of her in the near future. Speaking as a longtime constituent, she was one of a kind and will truly be missed. Rest in peace, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee. Here’s additional coverage from the Chron, and the Associated Press, the Trib, Houston Landing, Reform Austin, and the Press have more.
My condolences. Late stage pancreatic cancer is probably the worst diagnosis anyone could get, even worse than glioblastoma.