Democrat Christian Menefee won a Texas House seat in a special election on Saturday, narrowing an already slim Republican majority and telling President Donald Trump that the Democratic district will “overthrow a corrupt presidency.”
Menefee, the Harris County attorney, won a runoff election against former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards. He will succeed the late U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner, a former Houston mayor who passed away in March 2025.
The seat representing the Democratic-leaning Houston area has been vacant for nearly a year.
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott had not scheduled the first vote until November. Menefee and Edwards were the top vote-getters in the 16-candidate all-party primary. Since no candidate received a majority of votes, the election proceeded to a runoff.
Speaking to supporters at her victory party, Menefe promised to fight for universal health care, impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem over U.S. immigration and customs enforcement operations and “rip apart ICE to the core.”
He also pointed out that Democrat Barbara Jordan, one of the district’s most prominent congressmen who has addressed President Trump directly, eloquently advocated for President Richard Nixon’s impeachment before leaving office in 1974.
“The results we have here tonight are a commitment to me to fight back against your plans, fight back against the direction you are taking this country in, and do everything in my power to investigate your crimes,” Menefee said.
Menefee will serve out the remainder of Turner’s term, which ends in January 2027 when the new Congress is sworn into office.
Mr. Abbott had argued that Houston officials needed six months to prepare for the special election between Mr. Turner’s death and the first vote, but Democrats criticized the long wait as a move designed to give Republicans a little more cushion in the House in preparation for a difficult vote.
While campaigning Saturday, Edwards, 44, addressed the long-term vacancy in a video posted to social media, saying voters have been without a voice in Washington for too long. Afterward, she told supporters at a viewing party that the election was “never about winning any particular seat.”
“This journey has always been about creating a community where everyone, regardless of their background, where they come from or where they live, is given the opportunity to grow,” she said. “It means access to health care. It means education. It means economy.”
Menefee, 37, had the support of several prominent Texas Democrats, including former Rep. Beto O’Rourke and Rep. Jasmine Crockett. On Saturday, he was joined by Crockett, who is running for the U.S. Senate.
Menefee ousted the incumbent in 2020 to become Harris County’s first Black county attorney, representing the county in civil cases and joining legal challenges to President Trump’s immigration executive orders.
Edwards served on the Houston City Council for four years starting in 2016. She ran for Senate in 2020, but finished fifth in a 12-person primary. She unsuccessfully challenged Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee in the 2024 primary, and after Lee died in July of that year, local Democrats narrowly nominated Turner over Edwards to replace Lee.
Mr. Menefee finished ahead of Mr. Edwards in the primary, but Mr. Edwards drew the support of third-place finisher, state Rep. Jolanda Jones, who said Mr. Edwards had the “best set of skills to take on Mr. Trump.”
After Saturday, there will be another election in a little over a month. Both Mr. Menefee and Mr. Edwards will be on the ballot again on March 3, facing Democratic Rep. Al Green in another election. This election is a Democratic primary in the newly defined 18th Congressional District for a full term starting in 2027.
Last summer, Republican lawmakers who control Texas state government drew a new map for this year’s midterm elections, urged by President Trump to add five more seats to the state in order to maintain a Republican majority.
Winter weather added to voter confusion, forcing local officials to cancel two days of early voting this week, and civil rights groups went to court to win a two-day extension through Thursday.
