HOUSTON — Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has died at age 74, just over a month after she announced she was battling pancreatic cancer. Her family made the announcement Friday night.
Now, many people are left wondering how her seat in Congress will be filled. There are two parts to replacing her. There will be a special election to determine who fills the rest of her current term. There will also be an appointment for who replaces her on the November ballot when she was to run for re-election.
Editor's note: In the video above, KHOU 11's Marcelino Benito talks with KHOU 11 political analyst Brandon Rottinghaus about filling the seat in Congress after Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee's passing.
As for the time left in her current term, unlike in the U.S. Senate, the governor does not appoint someone to fill the empty seat. Instead, Gov. Abbott will have to call for a special election, allowing the public to choose someone to serve out the rest of the term, which ends in January. KHOU 11 political analyst and University of Houston political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus said anyone can get into that special election.
Rottinghaus also said the governor could take his time calling for the special election.
"The governor can kind of delay things so that it is the case that Republicans have a bit easier time in terms of getting a majority after, that this happens," Rottinghaus said.
As for what happens in November's general election, Jackson Lee was set to run for re-election against Republican Lana Centonze. But now, Harris County Democrats will have to nominate someone to fill her slot on the ballot. If they can't decide on a candidate, Rottinghaus said it goes to a state executive committee.
The winner of the November election will take over the seat in January 2025.
In the primary leading up to the November election, Jackson Lee overcame a challenge by former Houston City Councilwoman Amanda Edwards for the nomination.
"My guess is that, like the committee locally will choose, you know, somebody who they think is the best person," he said. "That's probably Amanda Edwards."
Rottinghaus said it's unlikely a Republican will win the 18th Congressional District. And because it's hard to defeat an incumbent, whoever ends up replacing Jackson Lee on the ballot could be in the seat for a long time.
"Every two years, there's always a discussion about how Republicans are going to try to take this seat," Rottinghaus said. "But realistically, given the demographics in it and the way that the political trends generally go, it's very unlikely this will ever be a Republican seat."
As for the timing, the Democratic party has a deadline next month that could be key in both filling her current term and for when Abbott calls the special election.
"The governor has a time limit on which he has to make a decision," Rottinghaus said. "And that's probably going to be right concurrent with when the Democrats have to make that decision. By law, the Democrats have to choose by the 26th of August and the governor has to make a decision before that. But the actual election may not come for another couple of months, so the governor can speed it up and have an election sooner or he could hold it off a little bit and have it a bit later."