Houston Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee's daughter carries her mom's legacy in her own way
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Erica Lee Carter was elected in November to fill the last two months of her mom Sheila Jackson Lee's congressional term. While Carter sat in her mom's seat, she didn't claim to have filled her shoes.
"It kind of closed the circle. I had been on the floor of the House. You can bring your children. I'd been in a lot of those rooms -- in the back of the room, with her over the years. And to see it a little bit more from her shoes, I'm never filling her iconic shoes, but to have that privilege, you know, I knew what she loved," Carter said.
Carter was just 3 years old when her mom began her political career serving on the city council as a municipal judge and then in the United States House of Representatives for 29 years. Now, after the death of her mom's successor, former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, some speculate she might run for the seat again.
"I haven't said I would never run again. But I will say, through my time, that hasn't been my main focus," Carter said. "My mom was the 13th Black woman in U.S. history to serve in the U.S. House. That's just in 1995. So, women's history is recent history, and she always felt that women could do everything if given the opportunity, and fought for that in our military and our schools. Education, of course, is part of our politics. So, that is a strong part of her legacy. She uplifted women."
Politically, Jackson Lee was an advocate not just for women's rights but also for social justice and astute in international policy. But Carter said Houstonians who didn't share her politics also benefited from her service.
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"Well, we don't expect you to ever agree with any politician 100%. I mean, she was my mother, and I didn't agree 100% on every policy or thing that she promoted. But I will say that her heart was always for Houston. She worked bipartisanly and brought hundreds, I would say billions-- documented billions--to our community, from disaster recovery to transportation to health care. She made a difference for you if you live in the Houston area," Carter said.
Carter says her mom's role as matriarch in their extended family is also a role she aspires to assume: ever-present mom, aunt, friend, and grandma. Inexhaustible.
"But I just saw new energy and light when she had the opportunity to spend time with my children," Carter said. "You know, she really took to it. She took to playing with them when they were young and getting on the floor with them."
Still, Carter and her brother Jason Bennett Lee know historians will record and debate their mom's public record, a storied legacy they inherited proudly.
"I would say a privilege and a challenge. I try not to absorb the pressure because I can only be myself and can't be as prolific. I didn't experience the challenges. She opened the door so that I wouldn't have to experience the same level. So the level of challenge I experience is only what she had opened to give me the privilege to be able to carry on her legacy, build on it, and expose others to generation now and next."
Carter currently works on policy issues in Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis's Office.
"I'm still trying to make her proud," she added.
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