Special Elections Set In Texas

On Monday, Governor Greg Abbott announced the date for the runoff election in Houston’s Congressional District 18 would be January 31, 2026. Earlier this month, Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee and former city council member Amanda Edwards placed first and second in the packed jungle primary (in Texas a candidate must pass the 50 percent threshold to avoid a runoff).

Abbott’s runoff announcement caps a long and winding road for the historic Harris County congressional district, which was previously represented by Barbara Jordan and Sheila Jackson Lee. Former Houston mayor Sylvester Turner was selected by officials in the Harris County Democratic Party to be the nominee for the district after Jackson Lee passed away in 2024. Turner died in Washington D.C. in early March after enduring health complications.

For TX-18, that means it’s been nearly a year since it has had congressional representation. Both Menefee and Edwards made the lengthy election timeframe a part of their campaigns around Harris County.

As the runoff looms in that race, political watchers are still waiting for a verdict in the redistricting case that will determine whether Texas will have new mid-decade congressional map. A three-judge panel in El Paso heard the lawsuit against the new districts in October.

Attorneys for the state of Texas who defended the new congressional maps argued that the new districts do not racially gerrymander (which would be illegal under the Voting Rights Act). The new congressional districts were passed in a redistricting bill that was introduced over the summer in two special sessions in Texas. The first special session came to a halt after enough Texas House Democrats left the state and broke quorum.

If the new congressional maps do hold, the TX-18 congressional district will get a radical makeover. The winner in the January runoff will also face longtime Democratic congressman Al Green, who was redistricted out of his current district TX-9 and has already filed for TX-18.

But for now, both Menefee and Edwards are focused on their January election. January 31 will also be the date for the runoff election in a state senate seat in Tarrant County between Republican and Patriot Mobile executive Leigh Wambsganss and Democrat and union leader Taylor Rehmet.

Early voting in both elections begins January 21.