The seat representing the heavily Democratic Houston-based district has been vacant for nearly a year. <\/p>\n
Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott didn\u2019t schedule the first round of voting until November. Menefee and Edwards were the top vote-getters in a 16-candidate, all-parties primary. They advanced to a runoff because no candidate won a majority of the vote. <\/p>\n
Speaking to supporters at his victory party, Menefee promised to fight for universal health insurance, seek to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations and \u201ctear ICE up from the roots.\u201d <\/p>\n
He also addressed Trump directly after noting that one of the district\u2019s most storied representatives, Democrat Barbara Jordan, was an eloquent voice for President Richard Nixon\u2019s impeachment ahead of his 1974 resignation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe 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\u2019re taking this country and to investigate your crimes,\u201d Menefee said. <\/p>\n Menefee will fill the remainder of Turner\u2019s term, which ends when a new Congress is sworn in to office in January 2027.<\/p>\n Abbott had argued that Houston officials needed the six months between Turner\u2019s death and the first round of voting to prepare for the special election, but Democrats criticized the long wait<\/a> as a move designed to give the GOP a slightly bigger cushion in the House for difficult votes. <\/p>\n While campaigning Saturday, Edwards, 44, referenced the long vacancy in a video she posted to social media, saying voters have gone too long without a voice in Washington. Later, she told supporters at her watch party that the race \u201cnever was about winning a particular seat.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis journey has always been about creating a community where every single person in it, no matter what their background, no matter where they were from, no matter where they lived, would have the opportunity to thrive,\u201d she said. \u201cThat means access to health care. That means education. That means economics.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Democratic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1769936900_338_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n