AP Photo/ Karen Warren
Texas Congressional Candidate Christian D. Menefee gets a photo with poll worker, Jessica Barraza, as he visited a polling location at Acres Homes MultiService Center on Election Day, in Houston, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026.
Voters in the 18th Congressional District, who have gone nearly 11 months without representation in Washington, have finally selected their next representative as former Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee beat former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards in Saturday’s special election runoff.
Menefee received about 68.4% of the vote compared to 31.6% for Edwards, according to results released Saturday night by the Harris County Clerk’s Office. Menefee widened his lead from the early voting period, when more than 13,600 votes were cast. Another 10,000 votes were cast on Election Day.
The Houston-centered 18th District has sat vacant for the past 332 days, since the March death of U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner.
Menefee, a Democrat like Turner, claimed victory at his campaign watch party after two of the 68 Election Day voting centers had reported. He also took aim at President Donald Trump, a Republican.
“President Trump, my message to you is this: You’ve gone nearly a year without hearing from the people of the 18th Congressional District of Texas,” Menefee said Saturday night. “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.”
Edwards, who also is a Democrat, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Menefee led the first round of voting in the special election to complete Turner’s unexpired term, which is set to end in January 2027. Sixteen candidates – a mix of Democrats, Republicans and independents – vied for the opportunity to fill Turner’s seat on Nov. 4. No candidate garnered the 50% plus one vote needed to avoid a runoff. Menefee and Edwards emerged as the top two vote getters – Menefee with 28.9% of the vote and Edwards with 25.6%.
Menefee may have benefitted in the runoff from the endorsement of one of the Texas Democratic Party’s rising stars, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Dallas Democrat and U.S. Senate candidate.
“I already told him, he’s flying back to DC with me tomorrow so Speaker Johnson can conduct his swearing-in expeditiously,” Crockett said in a statement Saturday night.
Edwards’ most significant endorsement came from Houston state Rep. Jolanda Jones, who had placed third in the first round of the special election and whose Texas House district overlaps the 18th.
AP Photo/ Karen Warren
Texas Congressional Candidate Amanda Edwards waves at a voter at a polling location at Acres Homes MultiService Center on Election Day, in Houston, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026.
This marks Edwards’ third bid for the seat, which has been held by a Black Democrat since the early 1970s. She previously made an unsuccessful 2024 Democratic primary run against the late U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee. After Jackson Lee’s death that July, Edwards sought the nomination of Harris County Democratic leaders to replace the congresswoman on the ballot, but lost that contest to Turner.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott waited a month after Turner’s death to set the date of the special election for November. The governor cited concerns about past problems with Harris County’s elections as his main reason for the long delay. Many political analysts have suggested another possible motive: Abbott’s desire to help his fellow Republicans maintain their narrow advantage in the U.S. House of Representatives for as long as possible.
Menefee said in a Saturday night statement the 18th Congressional District “cannot afford another day on the sidelines.”
“This district has a long history of bold leadership,” he added. “I’m honored to carry that legacy forward and fight every day to make sure the people of the 18th have a seat at the table and a fighter that won’t back down.”
Menefee will immediately be forced to defend the seat in a contested Democratic primary against U.S. Rep. Al Green, currently serving as the incumbent representative for Texas’ 9th Congressional District. Green’s home and much of his constituency were shifted into TX-18 by the Republican-led Texas state Legislature as part of a mid-decade redistricting last summer.