From Houston Public Media:
Former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner has won the Democratic nomination to replace the late Sheila Jackson Lee on the November ballot, following a two-and-a-half-hour selection process in the gymnasium of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church.
Six of the eight declared candidates to succeed Jackson Lee were formally nominated and seconded by participating precinct chairs. After each of the six addressed the crowd, the nearly 80 precinct chairs present voted by roll call.
Turner emerged as the frontrunner with 35 votes, just ahead of former Houston City Council Member Amanda Edwards at 34, but he fell short of the outright majority he needed to claim the nomination in the first round. Current City Council Member Letitia Plummer and State Representatives Jarvis Johnson and Christina Morales each registered in the single digits, while chef and businessman Robert Slater failed to get a single vote.
Turner then polled 41 votes to Edwards’ 37 in the second round to claim the party’s nomination.
In accepting the party’s nod, Turner began by thanking all his Democratic opponents, with a special acknowledgment to Amanda Edwards.
“I’ve simply been encouraged and inspired by the number of people that ran, their energy, their ideas, and I look forward to inviting them to the table to work together to make this the best district one can imagine,” Turner said.
Turner has publicly vowed to serve no more than two terms in Congress, saying that he would be a transition candidate. Turner was the oldest major candidate in the Democratic contest at 69, vying to succeed Jackson Lee, who died July 19 at the age of 74.
Erica Lee Carter, Jackson Lee’s daughter, has declared herself a candidate for the November special election to fill out the remainder of her mother’s term in the current session of Congress.
Turner will now face Lana Centonze, who won the Republican nomination for Texas’ 18th Congressional District in March. But the district has been solidly Democratic since it was redrawn to represent parts of Houston in the early 1970s, making Turner’s victory in the fall all but certain. That will partly free the former two-term mayor up to concentrate on campaigning for the anticipated Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, and the party’s nominee to challenge Republican Senator Ted Cruz, Congressman Colin Allred.
“We’ve got some work to do between now and November,” Turner told the crowd. “Let’s make sure that we turn Texas blue, and it’s my hope that the 18th Congressional District will lead the way.”
