Down Goes Sheila Jackson Lee

[Art]

Miss Sheila decided that she wanted to end her political career as Mayor of Houston. She had the solid backing of the local Democrat establishment who actually forced a promising candidate out of the race (he announced for Mayor then had an unexplainable change of heart that his dream job was really City Comptroller.) Most everybody, me included, believed that she was almost a lock to win, heck by most reconning she had 40%-45% of the vote locked up tight as a bank vault and all the local Dem big money was behind her. Enter Jim Whitmire the Democrat Chairman of the Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee. Yes the Republicans control the Texas Senate and yes they are stupid enough to appoint some Democrats to committee chairmanships, and no you can't make this up. Whitmire may be a Dem but he's far to the right of Lee. He ran on crime fighting and fixing infra structure. Lee did not. Not only is Lee not a nice person but I suspect she was looked on by way to many people as simply being an extension of the corrupt Turner administration. That combination did her in. Whitmire won the contest between an old white man and an old black woman with a whopping 66% of the vote. Without a viable Republican alternative it should be noted that most leading Republicans covertly or overtly endorsed Whitmire.

This is a bit of an outlier since the Dems won all of the other city elections they were supposed to but it had to be a stunning defeat for Lee who was expected to be a shoo-in.

[dogtag]

Down but not out apparently and unfortunately I might add
as she's now filed to get back into the fray via a 16th term.
I hope it's a case of not knowing she's not wanted.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/sheila-jackson-lee-files-for-reelection

[Art]

Down but not out apparently and unfortunately I might add
as she's now filed to get back into the fray via a 16th term.
I hope it's a case of not knowing she's not wanted.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/n...for-reelection

She'll get her house seat back...the district she's zoned to almost guarantees it. I heard one person actually said she'd voted for "Miss Sheila" to get her out of the House of Representatives . In congress she's just one of 435 and is so poorly thought of in her own party that after 30 years she still hasn't been given a committee chair. Houston has a system with a very strong mayor. In this town the Mayor can appropriate money without actual consent of the City Council, though they can overrule him/her after the fact. The last thing you want is somebody like Jackson-Lee having the power of the purse.

To lose the race by a 2-1 margin has to be humiliating though. It happened through a combination of heavy turnout in the predominantly white/conservative areas like Kingwood and Clear Lake buttressed by votes of Latinos, white moderates and Asians. It also didn't help her that black turnout was quite low. One pundit opined that this is what happens to a politician who can't reach out beyond her base.

I'm not surprised a former staffer is running against her. Jackson-Lees history of mistreating her staff is long and well documented. It isn't just her staff either, any waiter, cabbie or flight attendant or hotel staffer who has delt with her more than once probably has a story to tell, and not a flattering one to the congress critter in question.