Crockett questioned retiring U.S. Rep. Johnson’s wealth, longevity before scoring her endorsement

A video surfaced Monday of U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson’s choice to replace her in Congress in which she questioned Johnson’s personal wealth, support of the 1994 crime bill and her nearly three decades representing Dallas’ 30th Congressional District. “We have a congresswoman here in Texas… who has been in that seat for 28 years, ever since they created that seat,” state Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, said during a sprawling, two-hour interview on the podcast Barbershop Conversations that was posted in August of 2020. “She was the first elected Black woman to the Texas House. She has been an elected official for the last 47 years. By education she is an RN. Somehow she is a multimillionaire. I want to say she’s worth approximately $12 million at this point.” Financial records show that most of Johnson’s assets are in a blind trust and worth between $500,000 and $1 million.

Crockett then pointed out that Johnson was still an ardent defender of the 1994 crime bill, which progressives and many Democrats contend contributed to the mass incarceration of Black and Hispanic people. “She’s been a public servant for the last almost 50 years,” Crockett said. “And while everybody’s talking about, you know, the crime bill, the ‘94 crime bill, she actually specifically stated that if she had to do it all over again, she would not change her vote. She would still support the crime bill in this majority-minority district.” On Monday, Crockett dismissed the video as the desperate act from one of her rivals in the March 1 primary for District 30. “I know which camp did this because they are still so sorely upset about the fact that they did not garner the endorsement of the congresswoman,” Crockett told The Dallas Morning News. “This only proves that my endorsement didn’t come because I was a favorite. The only reason the congresswoman endorsed me is because of my work ethic and the work that I’ve done. She said her remarks about Johnson should not be taken out of context. “What I was saying is that we can’t be asleep at the wheel,” Crockett told The News. “We’ve got to make sure that we know what our elected officials are doing. I wasn’t saying she wasn’t doing anything. What I’m saying is there are people that can’t cite what she’s doing.” Crockett also distributed a response from Johnson, who reiterated her support for the state legislator.