The son of late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and brother of current Congresswoman Erica Lee Carter is facing possible investigations in Texas and Illinois for being employed by the City of Chicago, thereby asserting residency, but voting in the State of Texas in November’s election.
Jason Lee makes almost $190,000 per year as a senior advisor to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and is one of the mayor’s closest aides. Per Chicago ordinance, employees must reside within city limits, but Harris County voting records show that Lee is registered in the county and voted in the November 2024 general election. Lee was previously registered in Chicago, where he voted in the 2020 Democrat primary election, from March of that year until his registration was canceled in 2023.
The Chicago Tribune questioned Lee about his Harris County voter registration, and he responded, “I don’t know what they asked me. I don’t recall what they asked. It doesn’t matter what they asked me. You think that every single interaction at a polling location goes exactly by what they mark?”
So is Lee violating Chicago rules or Texas law?
When asked about it, Mayor Johnson said that it was being looked into, but that it would be up to the State of Texas to determine whether Lee was entitled to cast a ballot. The Chicago city inspector refused to comment regarding whether her office was investigating the allegations, but Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez called on her to open an investigation if she has not already. He also requested that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton investigate Lee’s actions for “possible voter fraud.”
“I’m very concerned about election integrity, but I’m also concerned, as an alderman, that we are employing someone who doesn’t have the city of Chicago as their primary residence, which is exactly why I asked the inspector general to look into this matter,” Lopez continued. “He made a choice to take a job in the city of Chicago, which requires him to live here. He made a choice to go vote in Texas while claiming to be a Chicago resident, even though their law says he has to be a primary resident there. So, somewhere along the line, the laws are being broken, whether it’s in Illinois or Texas, and I think it’s only fair that we get to the bottom of this,” he told a local TV station.
Lee told the Chicago Tribune that he wanted to vote for his sister, Erica Lee Carter, who was running in a special election to finish the unfinished term of their late mother. “My parents’ home is where my registration card was, and I never changed it. But my residency is in Chicago…a lot of people are registered in their hometown, even if they’re living somewhere else,” he said.
State Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R–Houston), who chairs the Local Government Committee, told Texas Scorecard, “You only have one life to live. If you sign an affidavit that your permanent home is in Chicago, Mr. Lee shouldn’t break that sworn statement by voting in Houston.”
