Democratic Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) suffered a massive defeat in Houston’s runoff election for mayor against Texas Sen. John Whitmire (D-15) on Saturday.
Whitmire had focused his campaign priority on tackling the city’s exploding crime, which captured voters’ primary concerns.
As NBC reported, Whitmire was up 86,734 to 49,075 votes, 3.9% to 36.1%.
However, Jackson Lee’s campaign appeared doomed from the outset following an audio recording of her allegedly berating staffers.
In the recording, Lee could be heard screaming at a staff member because they did not know the exact date of an event.
Here was what Lee said in the recording:
“I don’t want you to do a g**d*** thing. I want you to have a f***ing brain,” she said.
“I want you to have read it. I want you to say, ‘Congresswoman, with such and such date.’ That’s what I want.”
“That’s the kind of stuff that I want to have. So some stupid other motherf***er did it. And, and I don’t have the information,” Lee shouted.
“Nobody sent me the information. I need to, uh, ensure my, um, schedule and, uh, you know, if, if Boo Boo did it, s*** a** did it, f*** face did it.”
“And nobody knows a g**d*** thing in my office. Okay? Nothing. I gave it to you. Your job was to get it on the calendar, imprint it in your brain, or send me the information back saying, ‘Congresswoman, I made sure that the Ovide Duncantell event that you gave me, uh, for a so-and-so date at seven is on the f***ing calendar.’ Not to, ‘oh, Jerome has it.'”
“So when I called Jerome, he only sitting up there like a fat a** stupid idiot talking about, uh, what the f*** he doesn’t know,” she allegedly continued.
“He doesn’t know. Okay? Both of y’all are f*** ups [inaudible]. It’s the worst s*** that I could have ever had put together.”
“Two g**d*** big a** children f***ing idiots serve no g**d*** purpose. Ain’t managing nobody. Nobody’s respecting them. Nobody gives a s*** about what you’re doing and you ain’t doing s***.”
“And this is an example of it. I gave it to Jerome. This is not child’s work.”
In response to the recording, Lee released a statement saying she “strongly believes that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect,” including her staff.
She continued without giving a formal apology.
“To anyone who has listened to this recording with concern, I am regretful and hope you will judge me not by something trotted out by a political opponent that worked to exploit this, and backed by extreme Republican supporters on the very day that polls open, but from what I’ve delivered to Houstonians over my years of public service.”
Lee claimed that those who had worked for her had gone on to “bigger and better opportunities.”
She also dismissed the recording as a “political attack and stunt.”
