Texas Governor Greg Abbott finally set a special election to replace Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-TX) after House Democrats threatened to sue the governor for allegedly dragging his feet to prevent an additional Democrat in the US House.
The date, however, still has critics furious.
“So, Greg Abbott just set our special election date for Congress: November 4th, 2025. They want us to go *8 months* without a voice in Congress,” tweeted Democrat Isaiah Martin, who is running for Turner’s 18th District seat this year. TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION! But here’s the thing: Republicans can try to delay all they want — they can’t stop what’s coming!”
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Martin is confident a beleaguered Trump economy plagued with tariff-fueled chaos and GOP threats to cut Social Security could open a path for Democrats in the House for the upcoming midterm election.
Turner — who was both congressman and the former mayor of Houston (the fourth-largest U.S. city by population) — died of cancer on March 5, leaving behind a district with a high Latino and African American population that largely votes Democrat. Democrats seethed over Abbott delaying a special election long enough to prevent an earlier election.
“It's getting buried, but Houston will almost certainly not have representation in Congress until January 2027,” said MSNBC columnist Brandon Friedman on X prior to Abbott's announcement. “Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner died nearly a month ago and Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has simply decided not to call a special election to fill the seat.”
Houston Chronicle reporter Jeremy Wallace agreed Abbott’s delay means the 18th Congressional District won't have a vote in Congress for another 7 months, and he added this gives a distinct advantage to US House Republicans this year.
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“It also gives House Speaker Mike Johnson 7 months with one less Democratic vote to worry about,” said Wallace. “Currently Republicans have a 220-213 edge in House with two vacancies because of last month’s deaths of Turner and Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona.”
Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs set the special election to replace Grijalva, who died of lung cancer on March 13, for July 15. In contrast, Florida Gov. Ron Desantis set special elections to replace Trump appointees Matt Gaetz and Michael Waltz on April 1, after they left Congress in January.