Block walk orientation at Onion Creek
January 23rd, 2010 in
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By STEWART M. POWELL, RICHARD S. DUNHAM and JOE HOLLEY
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
The Houston political landscape has changed significantly since Sheila Jackson Lee last had a serious race for Congress — her first, in fact, back in 1994.
The district looks different: Its 228 square miles, mostly in the center of Houston, were reshaped in 2003 at the behest of Texas Republicans.
Its voters are different: African-Americans account for 40 percent of the eight-term Democrat’s estimated 652,000 constituents now, compared with 51 percent 16 years ago. Hispanics have doubled their share of the population to 36 percent. And the political power centers have shifted from the inner city churches to the neighborhoods like Windsor Village that ring Houston’s central core.
What’s more, the way candidates reach voters is different: When Jackson Lee first ran for Congress, she appeared with African-American ministers. On the day Houston City Councilman Jarvis Johnson declared his intent to replace Jackson Lee, his first interview was a roundtable with liberal Houston bloggers.
Then there’s the volatile political climate of 2010, similar in many ways to the 1994 wave that swept away three dozen incumbents, including Jackson Lee’s predecessor, Craig Washington. Just last week, two senior Democrats, Sens. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, abandoned their re-election plans after finding themselves trailing in early polls.
For Jackson Lee, all of this adds up to serious scrutiny back home after 15 years of high-profile — and sometimes controversial — service in Washington. The winner of her Democratic contest with Johnson and Houston lawyer Sean Roberts is all but guaranteed to claim the House seat in November, given the heavily Democratic tilt of the district.
The sour mood of voters is not the only parallel between the 18th Congressional District races of 1994 and 2010. So is the generational difference between the 60-year-old incumbent and her two 38-year-old foes. Johnson, the better-known challenger, boasts of his Internet savvy; the veteran lawmaker hasn’t updated her Twitter account since Oct. 22.
Jackson Lee, like much of the Texas political establishment, sided with Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic presidential contest. Johnson and Roberts were early supporters of Barack Obama, then a long shot.
But the biggest throwback to 1994 is the revival of the issue Jackson Lee used so effectively against three-term Rep. Washington: that the incumbent has neglected constituent service. Political leaders should be “delivering meaningful services to their communities,” says Johnson, a newly re-elected council member who has fought for minority contracting and extending wireless Internet to city neighborhoods.
Critics contend Jackson Lee’s demanding management style accounts for one of the highest staff turnover rates on Capitol Hill, jeopardizing the continuity that’s crucial for resolving constituency-service cases such as veterans benefits and Social Security claims.
She dismisses the complaints as political trash talk.
“I will stand on my record in such a way that I will be immovable,” replies Jackson Lee, citing day-to-day assistance, an annual Christmas party for 3,000 children and two recent job fairs that drew 10,000. “We’re the Red Cross. When you call, I will answer.”
Jackson Lee paints Johnson’s challenge as little more than ambition to move up politically now that he faces term limits on the council.
“When you have term limits, people simply want to seek (other) opportunity,” says Jackson Lee. “My interest is to seek service.”
Johnson says his motives are not personal power but helping rank-and-file constituents improve their lives.
“When we deal with unemployment in the district, we also are dealing with crime and quality-of-life issues,” he says.
The veteran congresswoman has plenty going for her in the coming contest. She enters the fight with $451,414 in campaign funds as of Sept. 30, the latest report to the Federal Election Commission. Her rivals, who declared their candidacies after that date, have not yet filed financial reports with the FEC.
“It typically takes money and time to get known in a congressional race,” says University of Houston political scientist Richard Murray, noting that Johnson’s City Council district barely overlaps with Jackson Lee’s congressional district. “Johnson doesn’t have much time and he hasn’t built up a war chest.”
In addition, Jackson Lee has a reputation as a driven individual. She pitches herself as the can-do lawmaker who brings home the bacon, helping to steer 30 earmarks worth almost $51 million to Houston last year, including $15 million for Houston Metro.
“I have my hands on the pulse of the needs of this community,” Jackson Lee says. “I simply ask that they allow me to finish the job.”
The Democratic incumbent is “the hardest-working candidate I’ve ever known,” says Kyle Johnston, a Houston-area campaign consultant who has worked with both Jackson Lee and Johnson. “Even if she had no money in the bank, you’d have to go with her in any race she was running.”
But Jackson Lee also has received unflattering national attention at times. This past year, she was zinged by cable TV pundits and political cartoonists for her appearance at Michael Jackson’s Los Angeles memorial service, her attempts to have Congress declare the late pop star a “global humanitarian,” and her use of a cell phone at a town hall meeting while a constituent was asking a question.
Turnout will be key in the March 2 primary. Houston political scientists are talking about a low turnout of 60,000 voters, something that would favor Jackson Lee, who counts on support from African-American women who traditionally make up as much as 60 percent of the Democratic vote in primaries.
Johnson, who draws stronger support among black urban professionals, would benefit from an expanded electorate. Roberts, a former Vinson & Elkins attorney who now runs his own law firm, also needs to attract new voters to the process to make a possible April runoff.
“People in the district are ready for change,” says Roberts, a Denver native who arrived in Houston in 1989 as a triple-jump athlete for the University of Houston track team during the Carl Lewis era. “They believe it’s time for some new blood, to bring forth some new ideas.”
Click the link below to view the latest video on Sean’s historical run for Congressional 18th District
JACKSON LEE FACING TWO CHALLENGERS IN MARCH PRIMARY
ATTORNEY SEAN ROBERTS MAKES OFFICIAL BID FOR 2010 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY IN THE 18TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
HOUSTON, Texas – January 4, 2009. Houston Attorney Sean Roberts, former Chair of the City of Houston’s Affirmative Action Contract Compliance Commission under Bill White, today filed his declaration of candidacy for the 18th Congressional District at the Harris County Democratic Party Headquarters.
“I have spent considerable time talking to the people who live and own businesses in this district and I decided to run because people want a representative in Congress who will focus on the needs of the district and deliver results,” said Roberts. … See More
The 18th District is represented by Sheila Jackson-Lee, a democrat serving her seventh term and seeking re-election. Once a predominantly Black district, CD 18 is now 37% White and 40% Black, of which 36% describe themselves as being Hispanic or Latino.
“The unprecedented challenges we face present unprecedented opportunities for districts like the 18th Congressional District. These new opportunities can be realized with a representative who has the right set of skills, broad vision and a level-headed temperament so that all the neighborhoods in this diverse district can grow economically and thrive.”
Roberts, 38, began his career at Vinson & Elkins, one of the leading energy law firms in the world. He now runs a successful law firm specializing in domestic and international business litigation. “In Congress, I will focus on issues related to job creation, the economy, affordable education, and healthcare that works,” added Roberts.
The Democratic primary will be held on March 2, 2010.
Two weeks ago, in the middle of the night, I woke up to CSPAN where Attorney General Eric Holder was testifying before the House Judiciary Committee about torture and other issues related to the War on Terror. I turned up the volume to hear Congressman Ted Poe tersely ask Mr. Holder “Sir, what is your definition of a terrorist?” To which Mr. Holder replied “I don’t know, I would have to think about it and get back to you.”
The War on Terror was launched by a Republican led White House and Congress and, six years later, some of those same members of Congress that authorized the war have no clear definition of what it means to be a “terrorist”. Given the current debate about closing Guantanamo Bay and sending the detainees elsewhere, it would help if we could define exactly what “terrorism” is and make it clear that not all terrorists wear turbans. Somehow, in Mr. Poe’s question, I could not help but wonder how many of us consider Timothy McVeigh (the Oklahoma federal building bomber) or Thomas Blanton (1963 Birmingham church bomber) to be terrorists? How about the four African-American men in New York that planned last month to bomb the Jewish synagogue?
We cannot have an honest debate on how to best deal with terrorism before first admitting that a terrorist can take on any size, shape, color or religion. This is why we must resist some people’s call to erode our founding principles – such as the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures – in order to eradicate terrorism. Such a short sighted viewpoint is dangerous and neglects the fact that terrorists have lived inside this country for a very long time. This is clearly illustrated by the proliferation of Mexican drug cartels that are setting up shop on Texas ranches to train recruits to become killers. We now have a real homeland security problem on our soil and it is misleading to the American public to suggest that it is in America’s interest to isolate the War on Terror to the Middle East.
This same short sighted viewpoint is now being demonstrated in the debate about where to place the detainees once Guantanamo Bay is closed. Many of the same House and Senate Democrats who were vocal in their support of President Obama’s campaign promise to close the facility are now back pedaling that it appears that the detainees may have to be housed on US soil. They all want a solution to the problem, but only as long as it is not in their backyards. This could have been expected from the Republicans, but it is particularly disappointing when coming from those Democrats who at first supported the creation of the prison, then condemned it, and now that the facility’s closure is both possible and imminent, don’t want to take responsibility for their positions. Why not?
Isn’t America better suited than Italy or some other country to house and monitor these suspected killers? We have long lauded ourselves as having the most well developed justice system in the world and have in the past chastised other countries we feel do not provide the protections that we hold sacrosanct. Why then do some of these same lawmakers not believe that our justice system is the best system to try, convict and punish the detainees? Shying away from the responsibility to demonstrate that our system is fair, transparent, and most importantly, that it works, does a disservice to all of us. It does nothing to help our country’s image, so heavily tarnished in the last eight years, and only feeds the insinuations held by many around the world that we have something to hide. When it comes to difficult decisions it is always easier to do what is popular instead of what is right. Closing Guantanamo Bay is both popular and the right thing to do, but without the courage to make the difficult decisions associated with its closure, we risk falling prey to those same shrill voices of fear and self doubt that lead us to making the poor decision to open it in the first place.
Sean Roberts
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