Shelia Jackson Lee’s former intern launches congressional bid

A former intern for Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas.) announced his campaign for her seat Tuesday.

Jackson Lee announced in March that she is running for Houston mayor this year. She has not announced her retirement from Congress and is not required to do so to run for mayor.

Isaiah Martin, who once worked as an intern for Lee, is now a consultant “specializing in the procurement of large-scale aerospace government contracts,” according to his campaign website.

“My name is Isaiah Martin and I’m running to become the next Gen-Z member of the United States Congress — because democracy is only guaranteed if we fight for it,” Martin wrote in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost (D) was the first Generation Z member to be elected to Congress in 2022. 

“Isaiah wants to bring his experiences in developing solutions to Congress to focus on what matters most; expanding opportunity for all and delivering real results for all Houstonians,” Martin’s campaign website reads. “With Governor Abbott and the state legislature creating laws that make life harder for all of us, Isaiah is ready to bring energetic, forward thinking leadership to level up our neighborhoods.”