{"id":34171,"date":"2025-11-04T03:50:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T03:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/34171\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T03:50:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T03:50:11","slug":"lesbian-jolanda-jones-hopes-to-win-texas-special-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/34171\/","title":{"rendered":"Lesbian Jolanda Jones hopes to win Texas special election"},"content":{"rendered":"

Democratic<\/a> Texas<\/a> state Rep. Jolanda Jones doesn\u2019t wait for permission to speak her mind. A trial lawyer<\/a>, former track-and-field champion, and the first Black out LGBTQ+<\/a> member of the Texas legislature, she\u2019s running for Congress in a crowded field.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was inspired to run because my constituents asked me to,\u201d Jones told The Advocate in an interview.<\/p>\n

If she wins Tuesday\u2019s special election in Houston\u2019s 18th Congressional District, Jones would make history as the first Black out lesbian<\/a> elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. She\u2019s proud of that milestone but impatient with the fact that it\u2019s still a milestone at all. \u201cIt\u2019s 2025,\u201d she said. \u201cIt makes no damn sense that we\u2019re still having firsts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related: Former Calif. legislator Evan Low is the new head of LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, which supports queer politicians<\/a><\/p>\n

A life built on defiance and purpose<\/p>\n

Jones has long been a force of nature in Texas politics. A four-time NCAA heptathlon champion at the University of Houston, she brought her competitive instincts into law and public service. \u201cI\u2019m the only person in this race who\u2019s drafted legislation, filed it, whipped votes, and gotten bills passed in a Republican-controlled legislature,\u201d she said. \u201cThat shows commitment. I don\u2019t talk about fighting for people \u2014 I do it.\u201d She was first elected to the Texas House in 2022.<\/p>\n

Related: Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, California AG Rob Bonta receive awards from Victory Fund<\/a><\/p>\n

Her personal story reads like a primer on resilience. She was raised in Houston\u2019s Third Ward, survived the loss of her father to suicide, and built a career representing clients the system overlooks \u2014 \u201cregular, everyday people,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople who\u2019ve been bullied, discriminated against, or denied justice. That\u2019s who I am. I\u2019m the people\u2019s champ, not the ivory tower champ.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calling out bias \u2014 even within her own movement<\/p>\n

At the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund\u2019s Black Leaders Caucus Reception in Washington, D.C., in September, Jones stood before a room of donors and activists and delivered a characteristically unvarnished critique. \u201cWhen Black LGBTQ+ people run, we don\u2019t get the same support as white LGBTQ+ people,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you want your money to go to a white gay person and not a Black gay person, ask yourself why.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her speech \u2014 alternately funny, furious, and deeply personal \u2014 challenged progressive donors to reckon with racial inequities inside their own movement. \u201cBlack people fight for everybody,\u201d she said. \u201cMy question is, when are y\u2019all going to start fighting for us?\u201d<\/p>\n

Related: Pete Buttigieg will be inducted into LGBTQ+ Political Hall of Fame at DNC (exclusive)<\/a><\/p>\n

For Jones, representation isn\u2019t a side note. It\u2019s the point. \u201cI\u2019m the first Black openly LGBTQ+ person in the Texas legislature,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I win, I\u2019ll be the first Black openly lesbian person in the U.S. Congress. Let that marinate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jolanda Jones speaks during an endorsement screening with the Editorial Board on October 1.Sharon Steinmann\/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images<\/p>\n

A crowded race in a high-stakes district<\/p>\n

The race Jones has entered is anything but simple. Sixteen candidates are vying to fill the seat left vacant by the death of longtime Congressman Sylvester Turner. Under Texas\u2019s special-election rules, all candidates appear on the same ballot, and if no one reaches 50 percent of the vote, the top two advance to a runoff.<\/p>\n

That scenario looks increasingly likely. According to<\/a> PBS NewsHour\u2019s live results tracker, turnout has been steady but fragmented across Houston\u2019s sprawling, majority-minority district, which stretches from the city\u2019s inner core to its northern suburbs. No candidate is expected to clear the 50 percent threshold.<\/p>\n

Related: How LGBTQ+ people are stepping up to run for school board seats on the front lines of America\u2019s culture wars<\/a><\/p>\n

Polling<\/a> from the University of Houston\u2019s Hobby School of Public Affairs in mid-October showed Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee leading with 27 percent, followed by former City Council member Amanda Edwards at 23 percent and Jones at 15 percent. About 13 percent of voters remain undecided.<\/p>\n

The platform: voting rights, housing, and unions<\/p>\n

Jones\u2019s campaign is anchored in the same populist ideals that have defined her legislative career. \u201cIf we don\u2019t have the right to vote for people who understand us, Republicans<\/a> are going to control everything,\u201d she said. \u201cVoting rights are the foundation of every other freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

She is also focused on affordable housing and economic stability. \u201cThe most fundamental need any human has is housing,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t have a safe, affordable place to live, your life is going to be hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Describing herself as a dues-paying member of the Texas State Employees Union, Jones has made labor solidarity a cornerstone of her political identity. \u201cI\u2019m a lawyer. I don\u2019t have to be in a union,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I pay my dues because unions are as strong as their dues-paying members.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, she boycotted a Democratic fundraiser at a nonunion hotel in Houston, saying she wouldn\u2019t \u201cpick an annual fundraiser over the workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I figured out who the hell I am\u2019<\/p>\n

Jones came out publicly at 50, a moment that, she says, reshaped her understanding of what it means to be courageous. \u201cThe strong person you see now was terrified to come out,\u201d she said. \u201cI spent a lot of my life becoming who I thought people wanted me to be. Now I\u2019ve figured out who the hell I am, and I\u2019ve embraced me \u2014 all the bells and whistles included.”<\/p>\n

Her humor remains undiminished. \u201cPeople think I go to a makeup artist,\u201d she said, laughing. \u201cNo \u2014 I watch RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race. That\u2019s how I learned.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fight ahead<\/p>\n

The 18th District\u2019s demographics, including 43 percent Hispanic and 32 percent Black residents, make it one of the most diverse districts in the country. That diversity, Jones says, is both a strength and a challenge: a coalition that must be nurtured, not assumed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not running for the establishment,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m running for the people, not the powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n

If her political history is any guide, she won\u2019t back down easily. Jones has survived political attacks, courtroom battles, and a lifetime of breaking barriers. Now she\u2019s asking voters to help her break one more.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not business as usual for me,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s the people as usual.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Democratic Texas state Rep. Jolanda Jones doesn\u2019t wait for permission to speak her mind. A trial lawyer, former…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34172,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[21718,3269,56,10440,21719,21720,1183,21721,287,27,29,28,2860,7133],"class_list":["post-34171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-african-americans","tag-democratic-party","tag-houston","tag-jolanda-jones","tag-lesbian","tag-lgbtq-victory-fund","tag-lgbtq","tag-politicians","tag-politics","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-u-s-house-of-representatives","tag-women"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34171\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}