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Three weeks after U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner’s death and just over a month before the state’s next uniform election, Gov. Greg Abbott has not yet called a special election to fill the seat representing parts of Houston, a Democratic stronghold, in Congress.
Turner, who previously served in the Texas House for nearly three decades before becoming mayor of Houston, died March 5, two months into his first term representing Texas’ 18th Congressional District. His funeral was held in Houston on March 15.
Turner was elected to Congress last year after his predecessor and political ally, former U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, died in office after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Abbott has the sole authority to call a special election to fill Turner’s seat for the rest of the two-year term. State law does not specify a deadline for the governor to order a special election. If called, the election must happen within two months of the announcement.
But the Republican governor has little incentive to send another Democrat to Congress.
Turner’s death — in addition to the death this month of an Arizona Democrat, U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva — comes at a critical moment for Republicans, who hold a razor-thin majority in the House and can afford few defections on any votes if all Democrats remain united in opposition.
Congressional District 18 is a solidly blue district encompassing downtown Houston and several of the city’s historic neighborhoods, including Third Ward and parts of The Heights and Acres Homes.
With Turner’s seat vacant, the House breaks down to 218 Republicans and 213 Democrats, allowing the GOP to lose two votes and still win a majority on the floor. The Republican margin would drop to one vote if the seat were filled, likely by another Democrat.
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Democrats blasted Abbott for not calling a special election, arguing that he was depriving Texans of representation in Congress.
“Abbott is leaving 800,000 Texans voiceless at a pivotal moment in our nation’s history,” state Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston and Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair, said in a statement. “The people of Texas need the governor to start doing his job — honor the memory of Sylvester Turner and give the good people of District 18 their constitutional representation back.”
U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader, highlighted the delay on Tuesday. “Why hasn’t the Texas Governor called a special election to fill this vacant seat?” he wrote on social media.
“An announcement on a special election will be made at a later date,” Abbott Press Secretary Andrew Mahaleris said in a statement last week that did not address whether House Republicans’ margin was factoring into the governor’s decision.
The next scheduled election date in Texas is May 3. According to state election law and precedent, Abbott would have had to order the special election by March 18 for it to take place in May. The practical deadline to call a May 3 election may have alsoalready passed, due to how much time the state needs to program voting machines and prepare and mail ballots.
The Texas Secretary of State’s office did not respond to a question about how much time the state generally requires to carry out an election.
Chad Dunn, a longtime Democratic Party lawyer, argued that there was plenty of time for the state to execute a special election on May 3 if Abbott ordered it.
While Texas law does not set a deadline for the governor to call a special election, Dunn added, “the assumption of Texas laws is that the state doesn’t want to be without representation in Congress.”
Historically, states were “eager” to ensure their entire delegation was present in Congress, Dunn said. Extreme partisanship in the broader political climate has changed that.
“Rather than pursue the interests of their state,” he argued, “some partisan governors are not moving expeditiously with replacement elections in these circumstances because they think that benefits their political party.”
In February 2021, after the death of U.S. Rep Ron Wright, R-Arlington, Abbott called a special election to fill Wright’s seat on the third day after his burial, or just two weeks after his death.
Abbott called a special election to fill Jackson Lee’s seat just over a week after her funeral, and 17 days after her death.
In those cases, however, there were several months before the next uniform election date.
Abbott could also declare an “emergency” special election, which allows for an election to take place outside the May or November uniform election dates.
He called for an emergency election on June 30, 2018 to replace former U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi, who resigned that April. Then, Abbott pointed to the recovery from Hurricane Harvey as justifying an emergency election.
Democrats in New York are also considering holding off on calling a special election as soon as U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican, leaves her seat to pursue her nomination to be US ambassador to the United Nations. Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, ordered a special election to fill Grijalva’s seat days after his death.
Disclosure: Texas Secretary of State has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
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