Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee has died at age 74, her family announced Friday, just two months after she revealed she had been diagnosed with cancer.
The Democratic congresswoman, who has represented Texas’ 18th congressional district since 1995, said in June He was battling pancreatic cancer.
“A local, national and international humanitarian, she was recognized worldwide for her courageous fight for racial justice, criminal justice and human rights, with a special focus on women and children,” her family said in a statement.
It is not clear when Jackson Lee died.
Before entering politics, Jackson Lee grew up in Queens, New York.
She graduated from Jamaica High School, earned a degree in political science from Yale University in 1972, and received her Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia Law School in 1975.
Jackson Lee moved to Houston with her husband, Elwin Lee, where she ran for local judgeships multiple times before becoming a city judge in the late ’80s.
A Democrat, she began her political career in 1994, when she was sworn in to represent the 18th Congressional District just months after losing the Houston mayoral election.
She was seeking to become the first black woman mayor of the fourth-largest city in the U.S. Jackson Lee’s district includes downtown Houston and parts of the city’s historically black neighborhoods.
Jackson Lee was seeking election to his 16th term as a representative from the Lone Star State despite his difficult diagnosis.
Last month, she revealed she was undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer, which has a 44% chance of survival. According to the American Cancer Society.
Jackson Lee did not say how long he had been battling the illness or how advanced his condition had become.
The congressman has displayed some worrying behavior over the past year, telling a high school student in April that the rocky moon is a “planet made mostly of gas”, before adding that he wants to be a “first-mover” to learn about life on the moon.
A few months ago, Jackson Lee urged voters to vote on the wrong day.
It is unclear whether her gaffe was related to her cancer diagnosis.
Jackson Lee was notorious for high staff turnover in Washington, D.C., due to her unusually demanding demands on her staff, and had developed a reputation as one of the most “mean” members of Congress.
Jackson Lee was one of the lawmakers who fought to make Juneteenth a national holiday.
“She will be greatly missed, but her work will continue to be an inspiration to all who believe in freedom, justice and democracy,” her office said.
