Dallas Regional Chamber celebrates contributions of retiring Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson leaves office in a few months, but the Dallas Democrat plans to keep pushing to improve the city she’s represented for decades. “I’ll never lose interest in the community and I’ll continue to work,” Johnson said Wednesday, citing hopes for building up particular areas of South Dallas. “I know that I cannot do what I have in mind, to complete that, by the time that I leave office, but I’m trying to put all the factors in place now and I will try to see that through.” The Dallas Regional Chamber honored Johnson during its annual congressional forum, presenting her with a newly created award that will bear her name and go to retiring officials who have had “extraordinary, long-lasting positive impact on the Dallas Region.”

Johnson spoke Wednesday about her political career’s humble beginnings, rooted in a shoestring campaign for the Texas House in 1972. Her win in that race made her the first Black woman elected to public office from Dallas, just one of many historic markers she set over the years. The Voting Rights Act was a relatively recent development at the time and it was shortly after she was first sworn in that the Supreme Court issued its landmark Roe vs. Wade ruling establishing a constitutional right to abortion. Fast forward to present day, when voting access laws are being hotly debated once again and the Supreme Court has overturned Roe, upending five decades of federal abortion rights. Johnson, a former nurse, recalled how she welcomed the Roe decision at the time and still believes it was rightly decided in 1973. She called for more people to engage politically and encouraged more women to run for office, but also cautioned any prospective lawmakers that getting things done requires late nights and a lot of hard — and not particularly glamorous — work. “It’s not an easy job … it’s a serious job,” Johnson said.