November 18, 2025 Story by: Publisher
Gov. Greg Abbott has set January 31 as the date for the special election runoff for Texas’ 18th Congressional District, meaning the Houston-based seat will remain vacant for over two more months.
Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee and former Houston City Councilmember Amanda Edwards, both Democrats, were the top two finishers in the November 4 special election, running ahead of the 16-candidate field but both falling well short of the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff.
Menefee finished first with 28.9% of the vote, with Edwards in a close second at 25.6%.
The winner will go to Washington to serve out the remainder of former Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner’s term.
Democrat Al Green has already filed to run in the new 18th Congressional District, meaning that the winner of the Jan. 31 runoff will face a primary with a well-known incumbent lawmaker just a month into his or her term.
The Jan. 31 date leaves little time for the winner to pivot to the March 3 primary, which will effectively decide the district’s representative for the term beginning in January 2027. That election will occur under new lines, unless a federal court strikes down Republicans’ redrawn congressional map.
The 18th Congressional District is poised to change significantly, with nearly three-quarters of the district’s current eligible voting population being drawn into different districts.
The filing deadline for the primary — Dec. 8 — is well before the special election.
Early voting will begin Jan. 21.
Election
In a crowded special election held for the U.S. House seat representing Texas’ 18th Congressional District (TX-18), two Houston-area officials emerged as the top vote-getters — ushering the contest into a runoff early next year. The seat has been unoccupied since March following the death of former U.S. Representative Sylvester Turner.
The TX-18 seat became vacant on March 5 when Sylvester Turner passed away. He had only recently taken office after serving as mayor of Houston.
The district — a deep-urban Houston area with a long history of sending Black elected officials to Congress — covers parts of northeast, central and northwest Houston and has been reliably aligned with progressive politics. Because no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s special election, the leading two will face off in a runoff election.
The top two finishers in the 16-candidate field are:
- Christian Menefee, Harris County Attorney, who led with approximately 28.9 % of the vote in early results.
- Amanda Edwards, former Houston City Council member, who captured roughly 25.6 % of the vote.
Both candidates are from Houston and bring different strengths: Menefee with a legal background, Edwards with legislative and city government experience.
In April, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., threatened a lawsuit against Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott for holding off on calling a special election to fill a vacant House seat in Houston, which Democrats allege was a deliberate move designed to help pad the GOP’s razor-thin majority.
In a response to a question from NBC News on Wednesday, Jeffries said it’s “very likely” that Democrats will pursue litigation against Abbott, who has yet to set a date for an election to replace Rep. Sylvester Turner, who died in early March.
Asked whether he thought Abbott was deliberately delaying the special election in Texas’ solidly Democratic 18th District, Jeffries said, “Yes.”
Andrew Mahaleris, Abbott’s press secretary, said in a statement: “An announcement on a special election will be made at a later date.”
Christian Menefee, the Harris County attorney and Democrat who plans to run for the seat, has also said he would sue Abbott if he didn’t call a special election soon.
After Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who previously represented Turner’s seat, died in July, Abbott issued a call for a special election two weeks later. Turner didn’t run in that special election; he won the regular election that fall for the seat and served in Congress for a few months before he died.
What to watch
- Runoff date: The date will be set by the governor’s office; expect it early next year.
- Campaign dynamics: How do Menefee and Edwards sway voters from the eliminated candidates? Who will consolidate support from the third-place finisher and others?
- Turnout: Special elections and runoffs typically have lower turnout — in this district, that could impact which candidate’s base is more mobilized.
- Next cycle primaries: After the winner is sworn in, the shift in district boundaries for 2026 means the candidate will likely be campaigning again almost immediately under a somewhat altered electorate.
- Community impact: For constituents of TX-18, much attention will be on how quickly services, federal advocacy and constituent outreach resume in full force.
Source: AP News / Axios / Texas Tribune
