The long and often confusing double races involving leadership for Texas’s historic District 18 are finally over, with Erica Lee Carter, daughter of the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, and Houston’s former mayor, Sylvester Turner, emerging as victors.
Lee Carter won the special election for District 18’s “Unexpired Term,” the term for the person who will complete Jackson Lee’s final term in office which ends Jan. 3, 2025.
Turner won the District 18 “Full Term” which will run from Jan. 3, 2025 – Jan. 3, 2027.
Both elections were held on Nov. 5, leaving many fearing that confusion over the two races might impact the chances of Lee Carter and/or Turner winning their races. But voters put that fear to rest, electing both easily.
According to preliminary results compiled by the Texas Secretary of State’s Office, Carter beat her opponent, Maria Dunn with 69.3% of the early votes. Turner also won the Texas 18th Congressional District race. Polling data last night showed a 70.2% to 29.8% lead against his Republican opponent Lana Centonze.
Both victors expressed eagerness to get to work and dive straight into what’s next for District 18.
“Day one, I will begin working on my reparations commission effort letter and I will also be supporting the Democratic Caucus,” said Lee Carter, during the Election Night Watch Party held for her and Turner at Grooves Houston.
When asked about her top priorities, Lee Carter said, “Disaster recovery dollars, getting our fair share, making sure we have a strong budget when we reauthorize it before the Dec, 20 deadline, and the Reparations Commission to study reparations in our nation.”
Lee Carter did not lose sight of the significance of her victory, as she will be the person tasked with closing out her mother’s final term.
“My first thoughts are, I wish I could tell her about it directly. I know she’s watching. I wish I could talk to her about it, get even more advice than I’ve already had my whole life. But I’m grateful for the example she set for me and all of the constituents of the 18th Congressional District. And I’ll do my best to finish strong for her.”
Even before the election results were in, Turner had already been contacted by former US Speaker Nancy Pelosi, current House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Congressman Peter Aguila, underscoring his desire to build upon those relationships.
Still, he took a moment to reflect on how his victory places him as next up in an impressive line of iconic District 18 leaders.
“You can’t replace Sheila Jackson Lee. So, let’s just be very clear about that. In fact, I’m following Barbara Jordan, Mickey Leland, Craig Washington and Sheila Jackson Lee,” stated Turner, who was already clear on his Day One work as a U.S. Congressman.
“The first thing for me is trying to get on the best committees that I can get on. That will help. It’s working the relationships, it’s talking with, getting familiar with the leadership team. Many of them I’ve already gotten familiar with, but that’s number one. You can’t do anything by yourself. So, it is building on those relationships. The congresswoman did that over 30 years. I’m trying to do that in a very abbreviated time span.”
Additionally, Turner has laid out his priorities in terms of issues to tackle.
“The work goes on. The needs of the people in the 18th need to be addressed,” Turner said. “So, I look forward to doing everything I can to bring needed resources, federal dollars back to the 18th and to the city of Houston. Shield Jackson Lee was exceptional as that. I want to continue that.
“Secondly, there are a lot of needs in the 18th. There are thousands of people who don’t have access to affordable healthcare, like a person like me have had. The death rate for one of the zip codes in the 18th, there’s 20 years less than the neighboring zip code. So, people need healthcare. That’s our priority. Affordable housing, single family homes, people in apartments who have been evicted; those issues need to be addressed.”
Turner also listed the need for infrastructure improvements to better withstand regular storms, upgrades to transportation, and expansion of workforce training, apprenticeship programs, and entrepreneurial opportunities.
