The special election to replace Sheila Jackson Lee will be held on November 5, and there are already interested Democrats

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) passed away last July 20 at the age of 74 after battling cancer. Many Democrats, including Kamala Harris, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, paid tribute to her at Houston's Fallbrook Church, where they noted her years of service. As for his replacement, Greg Abbott has already announced the date for the special election. 

The Republican governor of Texas announced the news in a statement, setting the election for November 5. At the same time, he remarked that interested parties must present the necessary documentation before August 22.

Jackson Lee, who represented the 18th Congressional District of Texas for nearly three decades, announced in June that she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  In 2012, the congresswoman revealed that she was a breast cancer survivor after an extensive battle.

The Democrat was born on January 12, 1950, in Queens, New York. She became one of the first women to graduate from Yale University and later served as a Houston municipal judge and city councilwoman, before being elected as representative for Texas' 18th District in 1994.

Those interested in replacing Jackson Lee in Congress 

The first to confirm her candidacy was Amanda Edwards, who is the favorite to win the election. Edwards, who presents herself as a moderate Democrat, turned out to be Jackson Lee's only rival in this year's Democratic primary, in which she won 37% of the vote. 

"I’m running because I believe that we’ve got to have a servant leader, a very effective servant leader in that role, that will make sure that the interests of the community are not traded off for politics. And instead, we focus on delivering results on some of the key issues like health care access, like economic opportunity, and of course, in our region, infrastructure investment. We’ve got to become a safer, more resilient community as well," said the Democrat after announcing her candidacy. Edwards even interned in Jackson Lee's office.

Just hours after Edwards, Sylvester Turner, former mayor of Houston, threw his hat into the ring. Friend and ally of Jackson Lee, he appeals to his experience in public office to seduce voters. The 69-year-old Democrat is also emerging as a competitive candidate because of his fundraising ability and name recognition in the district. 

"Only Sheila's passing at this critical moment in the election cycle could bring me out of retirement. Given all the uncertainty at the national level, I believe the 18th District needs stability and continuity in leadership. We must keep federal resources flowing into the district to address challenges such as the cancer cluster in Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens, and continued funding for local organizations for health care, flood mitigation and education," he said. 

Another to make her intentions official was Letitia Plummer, a Houston city councilwoman. A young politician, she was first elected in 2019 as the first Muslim woman to be a member of the Houston City Council.

"Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee worked tirelessly for the people of Texas’s 18th District. She was bold and unapologetic in her advocacy for the voiceless and the underserved. She would remind us that The Work Must Continue," she said. 

So far, the other names in the running for Jackson Lee's seat are Jarvis Johnson (state representative), Dwight Boykins (former City Council member) and Cristina Morales (state representative).