Eddie Bernice Johnson, who broke political barriers, dies at 89
Dallas Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, a trailblazing Black woman who spent decades as North Texas’ most powerful Democrat, allowing her to leave a generational impact on the region’s development, died Sunday. She was 89.
Dallas Mayor Eric L. Johnson posted about her death on social media, and a source close to the family confirmed it with the Dallas Morning News.
Johnson’s son, Dawrence Kirk Johnson Sr., called his mother a champion for the people of Texas.
“She gave her life to this community,” he said. “She gave Dallas all she had to give.”
U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who Johnson endorsed as her successor after she announced her retirement, called Johnson a “quiet storm,” who “prided herself in getting things done to better the lives of the people that she served.”
“The Chairwoman didn’t take passing the torch on lightly, and likewise, I’ve not taken it lightly that she entrusted me to honor her work and legacy,” Crockett said in a statement. “Every day that passes is a day that I dedicate to continuing her work and attempting to fill her shoes. The work has never been easy, but it has and always will be noble. As I conclude this statement, fighting back tears, I say rest easy to the Gentle Lady from Texas and just know that I will always fight to preserve the foundation that you laid over your 50 years of service to Texas and the United States.”
News of Johnson’s death sparked an outpouring of tribute from friends and public servants she mentored.
“She was a leader who took care of Dallas and Texas above everything else,” said former U.S. trade representative and former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk. “She’s been a friend and mentor. Dallas and the country has lost a great leader.”
State Sen. Royce West, D-dallas, replaced Johnson in the Texas Senate. He called her a mentor.
“We’re all forever indebted to her and her work and her legacy will live on forever,”
West said. “Throughout the 30 years that she served, we confided in one another and strategized together on issues. That counsel will be missed, but the lessons taught will remain and be passed on
for future generations.”
Former state Rep. Helen Giddings, a Desoto Democrat, who was one of the first Black women elected to the Texas Legislature said, “there is no question that I and other women and people of color serving today stand on her shoulders.
“She and I shared a passion for working to empower women.” Giddings said. “Her guidance made a difference in this and other areas in my legislative career. Our state and our country and for that matter the world are better because of Eddie Bernice Johnson.”
Her colleagues in Washington remembered her as a trailblazer and inimitable public servant.
U.S. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Johnson personally mentored him “with love wisdom and her powerful intellect.” He praised Johnson’s investment in manufacturing jobs and providing communities of color and under-resourced areas with science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills.
“I stand with great humility on her broad shoulders,” Jeffries said.
“Unrivaled in her ability to deliver for Dallas and for Texas, she always put Texans first and fought every day for her constituents,” said Rep. Colin Allred, a Dallas Democrat, who is leaving his House seat to run for the Senate. “Everywhere you look, Texans can see the mark she made on our state. … Texas lost a giant.”
Born in Waco in the segregated South, Johnson shattered barriers at nearly every stage of her political and professional career, paving the way for more women and African Americans to obtain leadership roles in politics, nursing and other fields in Texas and beyond.
She was the first African American to serve as chief psychiatric nurse at Dallas’ VA hospital; the first African American from Dallas to serve in the Texas Senate since Reconstruction; the first registered nurse elected to Congress; and the first Black woman to chair the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.
Johnson’s district, anchored in southern Dallas County, ebbed and flowed many times during her 30-year tenure as the Legislature and federal courts adjusted the lines in response to census counts and lawsuits. Designed to favor non-white voters, it initially snaked into Collin County and spilled into Tarrant County, cobbling minority neighborhoods to yield a population that was half Black and 17% Hispanic.
She represented downtown Dallas for much of her tenure but routinely used her clout to tend to regional needs, aiding with Dallas Love Field expansions and major highway projects.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Johnson a “visionary pioneer” when her portrait was unveiled in November 2022 to hang alongside those of other previous science committee chairs.