The potential candidates so far for CD18

The Chron lists a few, but I can and will tell you there are others.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee

The campaign to replace the late U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in Congress is playing out behind the scenes, with potential candidates calling precinct chairs and gauging interest ahead of an early August selection.

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Here’s a running list of who’s running, who may be interested, and who is not.

Mayor Sylvester Turner
Turner, who left City Hall in January due to term limits, said Tuesday he is giving a run “serious consideration,” suggesting the unique circumstances of this race are the only thing that could pull him out of retirement.

On Wednesday, Turner said he wants to keep the focus next week on celebrating Jackson Lee’s life.

“For these reasons, and out of immense respect for her family and all those who loved her, I will hold any announcement about my intentions until Friday, August 2,” Turner said.

Turner’s entry, if he decides to run, could lead other candidates to opt against a run. He served as Houston’s mayor from 2016 through 2023, after serving for decades as a member of the Texas House.

Amanda Edwards
Edwards, a former City Council member and Senate candidate, launched a campaign for Jackson Lee’s seat after the congresswoman entered the mayoral field. When Jackson Lee lost that race and pivoted back to Congress, Edwards stayed in to challenge her.

Jackson Lee won, 60% to 37%.

“While my interest in serving this community remains unchanged, I want to honor and respect the sensitive timing of Congresswoman Jackson Lee’s passing, and I would prefer to discuss this at a later time,” she said late Tuesday.

State Rep. Jarvis Johnson
Johnson, a state representative who lost a bid to take Mayor John Whitmire’s former seat in the Texas Senate, announced he will pursue the nomination on Tuesday.

“In light of her recent passing, we approach this announcement with utmost care and reverence for her legacy,” Johnson said. “Given the tight timeline — Democratic party decisions looming within a month — we must continue meeting the people’s needs.”

Dwight Boykins
Boykins, a former City Council member and mayoral candidate, confirmed he was interested in the seat but would hold off on an announcement out of respect for Jackson Lee.

“I think it’s inappropriate to be campaigning for her seat before she is buried, so I’m not going to do it,” Boykins said. “I owe her the respect to at least let her be laid to rest before I officially make any announcement.”

Bishop James Dixon II
Dixon II, the pastor at The Community of Faith Church, said he is “thinking about it very seriously and praying about it even more seriously.”

Dixon II, who is president of Houston’s chapter of the NAACP, has been a player in local politics but has never run for office before.

He also chairs the board of the Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation, the branch of county government that oversees the county-owned NRG Park.

State Rep. Jolanda Jones
Jones represents a Texas House district that overlaps with part of Jackson Lee’s district, and her name has surfaced as a potential candidate.

Jones did not respond to a request for comment.

City Council Member Letitia Plummer
Plummer is said to be exploring a run, though she also has not confirmed her interest publicly.

“We must take the time to honor her legacy and grieve her passing. In respect for her memory, I will refrain from discussing any potential interest in her vacant seat until after her funeral,” Plummer said.

Plummer won election to a second term as an at-large council member at City Hall last November, and she previously ran for the District 22 seat in Congress. She lost a Democratic primary election to Sri Kulkarni in 2018.

State law usually requires city officials to resign their seats if they want to run for another post, unless they are in the last year of their elected term. It does not appear that law extends to party contests like this one.

An opinion from then-Attorney General John Cornyn in 2000 concluded “a person who merely seeks a political party’s executive committee’s nomination to be the party’s candidate in a general election… does not trigger” the automatic resignation provision of the Texas Constitution.

It is possible Plummer or any other City Council member only would need to resign if she secured the nomination, though there is some uncertainty about a candidate’s comments. If Plummer or another City Council member made more general comments about running for the seat beyond pursuing this nomination, it still could trigger the law.

Most of these names appeared in my previous post, though since then a couple of people have publicly spoken about their potential interest. I appreciate the work done here to clarify the “resign to run” situation. Now that I see this in print, I seem to recall the same opinion being mentioned in 2016 when then-CM Boykins expressed interest in the Commissioners Court Precinct 1 seat.

Anyway. I can tell you that as of Saturday I have received phone calls from five of the people mentioned: Mayor Turner, Amanda Edwards, Rep. Johnson, Rep. Jones, and CM Plummer. Nobody told me anything that hasn’t been published in this story or elsewhere. I have not heard from Bishop Dixon or former CM Boykins. I have also received a call from an elected official not named in the story who may or may not become a candidate, and I got an email from a person unfamiliar to me who announced their candidacy. I will remind you, and that person if they read this, that anyone who wants to be a candidate must have a precinct chair nominate them during the meeting first. So we’ll see about that. I have not yet heard that a date/time/place has been set for the meeting, but I expect that will come out soon. I will let you know when I know more.

Related Posts:

• The election to nominate a candidate in CD18 has been set
• We are starting to hear some names in CD18
• Two small updates on the CD18 race