Mayor Brandon Johnson declined to weigh in Monday on the fact that his top adviser voted last month in Texas, saying any questions about whether it was improper for him to cast his ballot in Houston are the responsibility of election officials there.
During his first remarks to reporters since the Tribune reported last week that Jason Lee voted in the November presidential election in person on Election Day in Houston, Johnson said “this is a matter that is being looked to” but did not elaborate on what he meant.
Asked who is investigating Lee’s voting and residency history, Johnson said, “As I understand, this will be the responsibility of the state of Texas to make some level of determination.”
Records obtained by the Tribune show Lee’s voter registration address was listed in Houston, and one document indicates he told Texas election officials he lived there. Lee has also served as Johnson’s senior adviser since the mayoral transition in May 2023 and signed an affidavit that month attesting that Chicago is his permanent home.
“As you know, this is a personal element, and I don’t discuss those type of personal dynamics publicly,” Johnson told reporters. “As that process continues to unfold and play out, decisions and conclusions will be made based upon how this particular matter is not only underscored but what is uncovered as a result of it being looked into.”
Authorities from the Harris County clerk and Texas attorney general’s offices have not announced any investigation of Lee, who hasn’t been charged with wrongdoing. In a phone interview last week, Lee told the Tribune he had wanted to vote for his sister, Erica Lee Carter, in a special election to complete the unfinished congressional term of their late mother, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, after she died of pancreatic cancer in July.
Lee has said he is allowed to vote in Texas even though he lives in Chicago.
“Being registered in a city and living in a city aren’t the two same things,” Lee told the Tribune in his interview. “You don’t have to be registered to vote to live in a city. And on May 15, (2023,) I had residency in Chicago, and I’ve been a resident.”
Lee has no voting history in Chicago except in the March 2020 primary, according to public records released by the Chicago Board of Elections. Records from the clerk in Harris County, Texas, show Lee voted in Texas later that November, and that in the Nov. 5 election this year he voted at Thompson Elementary School in Houston.
His voting information from last month indicates Lee gave confirmation to the poll worker that he still lives in Texas, though Lee told the Tribune he does not recall such a conversation.
“I don’t know what they asked me. I don’t recall what they asked. It doesn’t matter what they asked me,” Lee said when presented with his voting record from November. “You think that every single interaction at a polling location goes exactly by what they mark?”
On the Chicago government side, frequent mayoral critic Ald. Raymond Lopez, 15th, filed a complaint with the city’s Office of the Inspector General on Friday after reading the Tribune story.
“On its face, the narrative provided is, at best, problematic and, at worst, constitutes felonious election fraud,” Lopez wrote to Inspector General Deborah Witzburg. “Therefore, I am requesting an immediate investigation into this matter. This is inexcusable behavior from someone in a leadership role within the current administration.”
Johnson on Monday defended Lee’s character in response to questions asking if the mayor still had confidence in his senior adviser in the midst of any investigations.
“As you know, Jason and I go back a little bit, and he has been a tremendous advocate for working people in this city,” Johnson said. “What I do know about Jason is that he comes from a legacy of leadership and organizing on behalf of working people. And I know his value system in that regard. And I’m very, very much appreciative of him.”
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