The Houston Democrat announced earlier this year that she had cancer.
, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.WASHINGTON — Sheila Jackson Lee , a Houston Democrat who was one of the longest serving members of Texas’ Congress ional delegation and a longtime advocate for progressive causes, died on Friday amid her battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 74.
She was also a household name in the 18th Congressional District, which includes Downtown Houston. She was known for her frequent visibility at constituent graduations, funerals and baby showers. But that persistence waned this year as her illness kept her increasingly at home, missing every vote in June and almost all of May, according to the House Clerk.
The move was rumored for months but ended up becoming a messy debacle after a leaked tape last year revealed her berating staff with a string of profanities. Her office was long known for a high turnover rate among staff. Despite an endorsement from outgoing-Mayor Sylvester Turner and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Jackson Lee lost the race to former-state Sen. John Whitmire, a fellow Democrat.
She served on the Houston city council before launching her 1994 campaign for Congress. She and Austin Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett were the longest-serving Texans in Congress at the time of her death. Jackson Lee stepped into the shoes of the trailblazers who held the 18th Congressional District seat before her – including Barbara Jordan, the first Black woman from a southern state to be elected to the United States House of Representative, and Mickey Leland, a former At-Large Majority Whip.
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