Texas Democrats Menefee and Edwards advance to a runoff to fill the vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives

HOUSTON (AP) — Democrats Christian Menefee and Amanda Edwards advanced to a runoff Tuesday night in a special election for a U.S. House seat that has been vacant since March and will narrow the GOP’s slim majority once the winner is sworn in.

Minifie, who currently serves as Harris County District Attorney, and Edwards, a former Houston City Council member, were among the top vote-getters in a crowded field of 16 candidates. Neither received more than 50% of the vote, pushing the race into a runoff expected early next year.

The winner is to fill out the unexpired term of Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner, who died two months after taking office representing the deep-blue 18th Congressional District.

After Turner’s death, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott defended not holding a special election until November by arguing that Houston election officials need time to prepare. Democrats criticized the long wait and accused Abbott of trying to give his party’s House majority more support.

Menefee said his message to President Donald Trump and his allies is: “We have another election, and then you’ll have to see me.”

“For months, while this seat remained vacant, I heard from voters who were ready for someone who was ready to take on Donald Trump and the far right — not just talk about change, but deliver real results,” Minifie said.

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Confusion remains over the election in the 18th Congressional District, where many residents will vote in a different district next year under a redrawn map demanded by President Donald Trump in an attempt to increase the number of GOP seats.

Republicans currently hold a seven-seat majority in the House, 219-212, with four vacancies, including Houston’s seat. Democratic Representative from Arizona, Adelita Grijalva, won a special election held in September in a predominantly Democratic district along the border with Mexico, but she has not yet been sworn in. A narrower majority gives Republican leaders less room to maneuver.

Speaking to his supporters after the polls closed, Edwards said: “It is not enough for me that we resist the attacks launched by our president.” “We have to do this and chart a path for our future.”

Menefee ousted an incumbent in 2020 to become Harris County’s first Black attorney, representing it in civil cases, and has joined legal challenges to Trump’s executive orders on immigration. Several prominent Texas Democrats including former Congressman Beto O’Rourke and Rep. Jasmine Crockett have endorsed him.

Edwards served four years on the council starting in 2016. She ran for U.S. Senate in 2020 but finished fifth in a 12-person primary. U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson unsuccessfully challenged Lee in the 2024 primary, and when Lee died that July, local Democrats narrowly nominated Turner over Edwards as Lee’s replacement.

The current 18th District is a solidly Democratic district that extends from northeast Houston through downtown, back to northwest Houston and east again, until its two ends come close to forming a doughnut. Non-Hispanic whites make up about 23% of voting-age citizens, although no single group has a majority.

The redrawn 18th Line runs from Houston’s southwest suburbs diagonally across the city and bypasses its northeastern border. Just over 50% of voting-age citizens are Black, which critics say is not a large enough majority to decide who gets elected.

Hannah reported from Topeka, Kansas.