Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee died at 74, her family announced on Friday, just two months after the longtime lawmaker revealed she had been diagnosed with cancer.
The Democratic congresswoman, who served Texas’ 18th District since 1995, recently announced in June she was battling pancreatic cancer.
“A local, national, and international humanitarian, she was acknowledged worldwide for her courageous fights for racial justice, criminal justice, and human rights, with a special emphasis on women and children,” a statement from her family said.
It is not clear when Jackson Lee died.
Before storming the world of politics, Jackson Lee grew up in Queens, New York.
She graduated from Jamaica High School before earning a political science degree from Yale University in 1972 and her JD from the University of Virginia Law School in 1975.
Jackson Lee moved with her husband, Elwyn Lee, to Houston, where she made multiple attempts at local judgeships before becoming a municipal judge in the late 80s.
The Democrat made the leap into politics when she was sworn in as 18th Congressional District representative in 1994, just months after losing a bid to become Houston’s mayor.
She had sought to be the first black female mayor of the nation’s fourth-largest city. Jackson Lee’s district includes downtown Houston and some of the city’s historically black neighborhoods.
Jackson Lee was seeking a 16th term as the Lone Star State’s representative despite her daunting diagnosis.
Only last month did she reveal she was undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer, which has a 44% survival rate, according to the American Cancer Society.
Jackson Lee did not share how long she had been battling the disease or how advanced it was.
The congresswoman displayed concerning behavior in the past year, including when she told high school students that the rock-solid moon is a “planet” that is “made up mostly of gases” in April — before adding she still wants to be “first in line” to learn how to live there.
Several months earlier, Jackson Lee urged her constituents to vote on the wrong day.
Whether her slip-ups were related to her cancer diagnosis is unknown.
