Being an election precinct chair is not glamorous. The neighborhood-level position comes with no salary or official duties. It’s a job typically filled by the most committed political activists, the ones willing to spend hours going door to door to get out the vote before each election. Chosen every two years in the Democratic and Republican primaries, precinct chairs are responsible for microdistricts ranging between 100 and 5,000 registered voters.
On Saturday, though, the Democratic precinct chairs of Texas’s Eighteenth Congressional District were given the pro athlete treatment before a packed auditorium at the Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy, in Houston’s Midtown neighborhood. As Beyonce’s “Formation” hyped up the audience, an emcee introduced each precinct chair by name. One by one, the dazed-looking organizers walked down an aisle lined with cheerleaders waving pom-poms to their reserved seats in front of the stage.
The program that afternoon was a much anticipated debate between the top seven candidates to replace beloved Houston congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee on the ballot this November. After representing her district for nearly four decades in Washington, D.C., Jackson Lee died of pancreatic cancer in July, at the age of 74. Under Texas law, it is now up to the district’s 88 precinct chairs to nominate a new Democratic candidate to take her place. They will gather on Tuesday evening at Wheeler Baptist Church, in Houston’s Third Ward, to vote on that candidate. The stakes are high: in this deep-blue district, securing the Democratic nomination is tantamount to winning the seat.
The precinct chairs have been abruptly—and somewhat uncomfortably—thrust into the position of political kingmakers. “I understand that this is how people are selected to represent their party when someone dies or vacates a seat,” said Ruth Kravetz, an educator who chairs Precinct 57, in the Houston Heights. “Nonetheless, I wish that this very important election was taken to the people.”
Before a single vote was cast, former Houston mayor Sylvester Turner appeared likely to win. A longtime friend and ally of Jackson Lee, Turner has been endorsed by nearly every local Democratic political leader, as well as the late congresswoman’s two children. On Monday morning Turner announced the endorsements of 30 of the 88 precinct chairs in a triumphant X post that sounded like a victory declaration. Among the chairs endorsing Turner was Rafael Lemaitre, a former communications director for Harris County judge Lina Hidalgo. “Houston and Harris County are under attack by the extremist Republicans who run the state,” Lemaitre said. “I wanted to support a candidate who had a track record of standing up for voters here.”
Turner has positioned himself as the only candidate with the connections and gravitas to fill Jackson Lee’s seat. “All of us would prefer not to be in this situation,” he recently told me. “But it’s important that we maintain the stability of the Eighteenth and carry on the congresswoman’s legacy. Part of that is continuing her relationships with the various federal departments—Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency. The Eighteenth is heavily dependent on those departments, and I don’t think there’s anyone who has greater relationships there than I do.”
Turner, who is 69 and a bone cancer survivor, has promised to serve a maximum of two terms in Congress before stepping down, describing himself as a “bridge to the next generation.” But at the candidate forum, several of his rivals pointed out the importance of long service in the House of Representatives. Over her four decades in office, Jackson Lee worked her way up to senior positions on the Budget, Homeland Security, and Judiciary committees. Whoever replaces her will have to start at the bottom. “Seniority matters,” said Democratic state representative Christina Morales, a Houston small business owner. “This community cannot afford to have someone who’s here for only two or three terms.”
Among the other major candidates are Amanda Edwards, a Harvard-educated lawyer who came in second to Jackson Lee in the March Democratic primary; state representative Jarvis Johnson, a small business owner and former Houston city councilman; and Houston at-large council member Letitia Plummer, a dentist and criminal justice reform activist. Charges of opportunism have dogged all three candidates, but especially Edwards. Since serving a single term on the Houston City Council, Edwards has run unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and Houston mayor. “There should be a limit on how many races you can run for in five years,” said Houston restaurateur Robert Slater, who previously challenged Jackson Lee in the March primary before ending his campaign to endorse her, at the Saturday candidate forum. “We don’t want people just jumping from race to race.”
When it came to public policy, there was near-unanimous agreement among the seven candidates. All opposed the state takeover of the Houston Independent School District, and all opposed the $4.4 billion school bond championed by HISD superintendent Mike Miles. Among the candidates’ shared priorities were building more affordable housing, keeping property taxes down, and remediating the contaminated former Union Pacific Railroad site in Houston’s Fifth Ward.
The winner on Tuesday will still have to face Republican nominee Lana Centonze in the November general election. But in a district that has never elected a Republican, and that gave Jackson Lee nearly 71 percent of the vote in 2022, the general election is little more than a formality. Centonze was born in Trinidad and Tobago and moved to the United States when she was six. She has worked as a Customs and Border Protection agent, and told me that she plans to vote for Donald Trump for president.
For now, the Eighteenth does not have a representative in Congress. Governor Greg Abbott has called for a special election on November 5, the date of the general election, to fill the remainder of Jackson Lee’s current term. Because candidates cannot appear on both ballots, the district’s voters will essentially be choosing two representatives this fall—one to hold the seat until January, and another to serve a full two-year term. If no candidate in the special election gets a majority of votes, the race will head to a January runoff. That would leave Jackson Lee’s seat unfilled for the remainder of the year.
“Unless there’s a clear favorite in the race, this district might not have representation in what could be an important lame-duck session of Congress,” said Mike Doyle, chair of the Harris County Democratic Party. “I don’t think Abbott did this as a favor to the district.” Abbott could have set a special election for any date between now and November. As it is, Doyle worries that having two elections for the same seat on the ballot will confuse voters.
It’s unclear how many of the district’s 88 precinct chairs will actually show up on Tuesday night. Only around half of the chairs attended the candidate forum. Most of the district’s 241 precincts don’t have chairs at all. “We have numerous vacancies, which we are actively trying to fill,” said Linda Bell-Robinson, who, as districtwide chair, is helping organize the election. “It’s a volunteer position. No, you’re not going to get a paycheck, but the reward is great. You feel good when you get people out to vote.”
Seventeen candidates have indicated their interest in the position. Each must be nominated and seconded by a precinct chair. If no candidate wins a majority on the first vote, the top two vote-getters will enter a runoff. All the voting will be done publicly; there is no secret ballot. “You know, not everybody’s not going to be happy,” Bell-Robinson told me. “Somebody is not going to Washington, D.C.”
Whoever wins the seat will join an extraordinary lineage of Black lawmakers. Before Jackson Lee, the district was represented by civil rights icons Barbara Jordan and Mickey Leland. “No one will ever be able to replace Congresswoman Jackson Lee,” said Fred Woods, a northeast Houston marketing professional who was elected chair of Precinct 584 in March. “But we do want someone that’s going to be able to carry on her work.”
