HOUSTON—Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee never slows down, and it’s her hustle that makes her popular with some of her constituents. "She has worked so hard and done so much good. I can’t imagine anybody working harder than Sheila," voter Michael Baptiste said. But two Democrats have decided to test her in the primary – Attorney Sean Roberts and Houston City Councilmember Jarvis Johnson. Roberts is running for the first time. Johnson was recently elected to his third term in office. "The time to say we need someone to listen to us is now," Johnson said. The 18th Congressional district is slowly changing. Most of the residents are black, but Hispanics are quickly gaining ground. Johnson and Roberts don’t have the name recognition or the money the Jackson Lee has, but they feel a window of opportunity was created during last year’s presidential campaign. Both men supported Obama early on, while Jackson Lee never waivered in her support of Hillary Clinton. That position put her at odds with most of the voters in her district. "To have on our side history, and for our rep to ignore that, certainly plays a key role in how we need to say we need representatives that will listen to the will of the people," Johnson said. Jackson Lee says she campaigned for Obama in the general election and welcomes her challengers. "It’s an opportunity to fight for your record, let people review your record, to stand up for your record," she said. Her opponents say her record shows a politician who sometimes crosses the line from hard-working to grandstanding. "I am talking about the people who are tired of seeing our congressperson in Jena, Louisiana, Michael Jackson’s funeral. They want to see someone focused on the serious needs of the 18th Congressional district. Jackson Lee joined a string of celebrities who spoke at Jackson’s memorial service, and she even proposed a congressional resolution calling the singer a humanitarian. She calls the criticism a lack of sensitivity and understanding. As for the fate of the Jackson resolution? "The resolution is not dead. It’s filed in the United States Congress. They often don’t pass the first time, but more importantly, I go where I am invited," she said. Despite questions about her tactics, political analysts say Jackson Lee will be hard to beat in the primary. "There has to be such an incredibly high turnout that people will come out who don’t know the incumbent and are inclined to vote for an opponent. But none of those conditions seem likely at this time," KHOU political analyst Bob Stein said. Still, given what happened in the Massachusetts Senate race, Johnson and Roberts know that anything is possible with five weeks until the primaries.
