Democrat Christian Menefee won a special election for a vacant Texas U.S. House seat to narrow the Republicans’ already decreasing House majority on Saturday (January 31), ABC News reports.
Menefee, an attorney from Harris County, defeated fellow Democrat Amanda Edwards, a former Houston City Council member, in a runoff to fill the heavily Democratic seat vacated by late Rep. Sylvester Turner following his death in March 2025. The seat was left vacant for nearly a year as Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott hadn’t scheduled the first round of voting until November, at which point Menefee and Edwards were the top vote-getters in a 16-candidate, all-parties primary, advancing to a runoff as no candidate won a majority vote.
Menefee promised to fight for universal health insurance, work toward the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations and warned President Donald Trump that the Democratic district “topples corrupt presidencies” during his victory speech.
“The results here tonight are a mandate for me to work as hard as I can to oppose your agenda, to fight back against where you’re taking this country and to investigate your crimes,” Menefee said via ABC News.
Menefeee will fill the remainder of Turner’s term, which will conclude in January 2027 once a new Congress is sworn into office.
Recent Comments