Democrats have selected former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner (D) as their party’s candidate in the November election to replace the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas).
Turner won a local party conference of precinct chairmen who selected candidates to represent Texas’ 18 states.Number Rep. Jackson Lee had already secured the Democratic nomination for another term in the House of Representatives before he died last month at age 74 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Turner was close behind. Winner The nomination was won by a 41-37 vote in a runoff election against former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards, who unsuccessfully challenged Jackson Lee in the primary election earlier this year.
Before serving eight years as Houston’s mayor, Turner served as a member of the Texas State Assembly, retiring earlier this year after his second term. Jackson Lee’s children, Jason Lee and Erica Lee Carter, are supporting Turner to succeed their mother and say they couldn’t have asked for a better partner during her tenure.
He had endorsed Jackson Lee, who was seeking to succeed him as Houston’s mayor in 2023, but she lost in a runoff election to then-state Sen. John Whitmire (D).
Turner will be the favorite to win the heavily Democratic congressional seat in November’s election. She will face Republican Lana Szentonze in the general election.
Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas) set a special election to fill the remainder of Jackson Lee’s term for the same day as the general election. Jackson Lee’s daughter, Lee Carter, running He won a special election to serve out the remainder of the term.
Turner not expected to run in special election, Washington Post ReportedCandidates have one week left to register to vote.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
