HOUSTON, TX — In response to Governor Greg Abbott’s comments during an April 3 interview with KXAN regarding the still unscheduled special election for Texas’s 18th Congressional District, Democratic candidate and Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee issued the following statement:
“Governor Abbott’s claim that he’ll ‘announce something soon’ about the TX-18 special election is not leadership—it’s a failure to uphold his responsibility to the voters of this district. Nearly 800,000 Houstonians are without a voice in Congress, and if the election is pushed to November, they will go unrepresented for nearly 250 days. That’s unacceptable.”
During the interview, Governor Abbott said: “Listen, there’s going to be time to do it. Know this, and that is that election is in Harris County, and Harris County is a repeat failure, as it concerns operating elections. Had I called that very quickly, it could have led to a failure in that election, just like Harris County has failed in other elections… I will be announcing that sometime soon, but I want to make sure that Harris County has all the opportunity to get this right, unlike what they’ve done in the past.”
Menefee called the Governor’s comments a political smokescreen, stating: “Let’s be clear—this has nothing to do with Harris County’s ability to conduct elections, which has been praised even by Republican officials in recent cycles. The Governor’s excuse is nonsense. This is about politics. It’s about helping Republicans maintain a narrow majority in Congress. And the people of TX-18 see right through it.”
Under Section 201.051 of the Texas Election Code, when a vacancy occurs in a congressional seat, “the [special] election shall be ordered as soon as practicable.”
Congressman Sylvester Turner passed away nearly a month ago, and no election date has been set. “The law says the election should be called as soon as possible—not ‘whenever the Governor feels like it,’” Menefee said. “There is no reason this election couldn’t be scheduled for June or July. That would give Harris County Elections time to prepare and ensure voters have certainty. Instead, the Governor is floating vague statements while the residents of this district are left without representation.”
“Governor Abbott—‘I’ll be announcing something soon’ is not enough. Call the election. The people of the 18th Congressional District deserve better. Democracy delayed is democracy denied.”
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