U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas has died of pancreatic cancer at 74
Longtime U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, who helped lead federal efforts to protect women from domestic violence and recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday, has died at 74.
Lillie Conley, her chief of staff, said Jackson Lee, who had pancreatic cancer, died in Houston Friday night with her family around her.
The Democrat had represented her Houston-based district and the nation’s fourth-largest city since 1995.
She previously had breast cancer and announced the pancreatic cancer diagnosis on June 2.
“She was just a rare, rare jewel of a person who relentlessly gave everything she had to make sure others had what they needed," said Bishop James Dixon, a longtime friend in Houston who visited her in recent days. "That was Sheila."
Jackson Lee had just been elected to the Houston district once represented by Barbara Jordan, the first Black woman elected to Congress from a Southern state since Reconstruction, when she was immediately placed on the high-profile House Judiciary Committee in 1995.
“They just saw me, I guess through my profile, through Barbara Jordan’s work,” Jackson Lee told the Houston Chronicle in 2022. “I thought it was an honor because they assumed I was going to be the person they needed.”
Jackson Lee quickly established herself as an advocate for women and minorities and a leader for House Democrats on social justice issues that included policing reform and reparations for descendants of enslaved people. She led the first rewrite of the Violence Against Women Act in nearly a decade, which included protections for Native American, transgender and immigrant women.
Jackson Lee was among the lead lawmakers behind the effort in 2021 to recognize Juneteenth as the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established in 1986. The holiday marks the day in 1865 that the last enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, finally learned of their freedom.
A native of Queens, New York, Jackson Lee graduated from Yale and got a law degree from the University of Virginia. She was a judge in Houston before being elected to the Houston City Council in 1989, then ran for Congress in 1994.
She was an advocate for gay rights and an early opponent of the Iraq War in 2003.
U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-South Carolina, called her “a tenacious advocate for civil rights and a tireless fighter, improving the lives of her constituents.”
U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, said she “studied every bill and every amendment with exactitude and then told Texas and America exactly where she stood.”
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California cited Jackson Lee’s “relentless determination” in getting Juneteenth declared a national holiday.
“As a powerful voice in the Congress for our Constitution and human rights, she fought tirelessly to advance fairness, equity and justice for all,” Pelosi said.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called her a “tireless advocate for the people of Houston."
Jackson Lee routinely won reelection to Congress with ease. The few times she faced a challenger, she never carried less than two-thirds of the vote. Jackson Lee considered leaving Congress in 2023 in a bid to become Houston’s first female Black mayor but was defeated in a runoff.
She then easily won the Democratic nomination for the 2024 general election.
During the mayoral campaign, Jackson Lee expressed regret and said “everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect” following the release of an unverified audio recording purported to be of her berating staff members.
In 2019, Jackson Lee stepped down from two leadership positions on the House Judiciary Committee and Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, the fundraising arm of the Congressional Black Caucus, after a lawsuit from a former employee who said her sexual assault complaint was mishandled.
“She will be dearly missed, but her legacy will continue to inspire all who believe in freedom, justice, and democracy,” a written statement from her family said.
Her son Jason Lee is a senior adviser to Mayor Brandon Johnson.