From Houston Public Media:
A special election will be held in November to fill out the late U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner’s term in Texas’ 18th Congressional District, a Democratic stronghold in Houston. More than a dozen candidates are running. The election could take until February to resolve if it goes to a runoff, at which point the 2026 primaries will be just around the corner.
Republican redistricting efforts earlier this year have only complicated matters.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Al Green was one of the major targets of the recent redistricting. A 20-year incumbent, Green earned the ire of President Donald Trump by filing numerous impeachment billsagainst him dating back to Trump’s first term. Texas Republican lawmakers completely redrew Green’s 9th Congressional District from a solidly Democratic one based in south and southwest Houston to a Republican opportunity district stretching from east Houston through Liberty County. Green’s home was drawn into the 18th.
Speaking in August, Green hinted strongly that he would be a candidate in the 2026 Democratic primary for the 18th Congressional District – though he stopped short of doing so, saying that he intended to be loyal to his 9th District voters throughout the current term.
“I will not be running for this 9th Congressional District [in 2026],” Green said. “I will give my consideration to running where my home is, where my constituents are. They were not moved. I was not moved. I will serve my constituents that I have always served.”
That sets up a potential March primary contest between Green and whoever is the newly sworn-in representative for the 18th District. That could postpone a long-expected generational shift in representation for the 18th. Like the late U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and Turner of the 18th District, Green is in his 70s. But he also has several advantages over any primary opponent he might face, including a loyal bloc of voters from his current district.
Jackson Lee had represented the 18th Congressional District for nearly 30 years when she died in July of 2024, following a battle with pancreatic cancer. Four months passed before her daughter, Erica Lee Carter, won a special election to complete her final term. Then, the former Houston mayor Turner won the November general election last year to fill the seat for a full term. Turner was in office for barely two months before he, too, died in March.
“It has been a devastating effect on the community,” said Joetta Stevenson, president of the Greater Fifth Ward Super Neighborhood, which sits at the heart of the current 18th Congressional District.
The seat has remained empty since Turner’s death, with Gov. Greg Abbott refusing to call a special election to fill it until this coming November. In his April statement announcing the date of the special election, Abbott said Harris County only had itself to blame for the delay.
“No county in Texas does a worse job of conducting elections than Harris County,” Abbott said. “They repeatedly fail to conduct elections consistent with state law. Safe and secure elections are critical to the foundation of our state. Forcing Harris County to rush this special election on weeks’ notice would harm the interests of voters. The appropriate time to hold this election is November, which will give Harris County sufficient time to prepare for such an important election.”
Sandra Edwards, a native resident of the Fifth Ward, still couldn’t make sense of Abbott’s decision even months afterwards.
“That seat should have been filled, like, two or three months after Sylvester died,” Edwards said. “And it’s not, and we’re left without representation. Who does that?”
Joetta Stevenson is president of the Greater Fifth Ward Super Neighborhood.
Andrew Schneider / Houston Public Media
Houston Public Media spoke with Stevenson and Edwards at the height of this summer’s fight over congressional redistricting. When the final map passed both chambers of the state Legislature during this year’s second special session, it sandwiched the 18th together with much of the Black population of what is currently another heavily Democratic district in Houston, the 9thCongressional District.
“What we’re seeing is that Congressional District 18 has been redrawn, so versus looking like a horseshoe, which is under the current map, it will now be more contiguous, compact neighborhoods,” said Cindy Siegel, chair of the Harris County Republican Party. “And truthfully, I think that’s what we all want. We want neighborhoods that are represented, that share the same concerns, the same issues.”
That’s not how Stevenson sees it.
“I think it’s very intentional,” Stevenson said. “And the intent is to silence the ability for my community, and communities like mine, to have a voice in democracy.”
At one point, two dozen contenders were running in the special election to fill Turner’s term. That’s winnowed down to 16 candidates officially listed on the Texas Secretary of State’s website.
Political scientist Michael Adams of Texas Southern University said three Democrats have a serious chance of making it through the first round of voting.
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“You have Christian Menefee, who is the county attorney. You have Amanda Edwards, who is a former at-large city council member, and she has also run for a U.S. [congressional] seat,” Adams said. “And you have Jolanda Jones, who has been a school board member, city council person, and she now serves in the Texas State House of Representatives.”
Then, there’s Republican Carmen Maria Montiel, who unsuccessfully challenged Jackson Lee and U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia in separate elections.
“Montiel,” Adams said, “if the vote is split amongst those Democrats, she may have a chance, and this is a Republican, to make the runoff.”
With so many candidates competing, Adams said no one is likely to get the minimum of 50% of the vote plus one needed to avoid a runoff between the top two vote-getters from the first round. That runoff might not take place until February.
And by that point, another major player may have entered the picture.
There’s a very real prospect that, if Green gets into the primary, residents of the 18th Congressional District could wind up with five representatives in fewer than three years.
“I think Al Green is in a somewhat strategic position, and he holds all of the cards in terms of what shakes out there,” Adams said.
