There are about 400,000 registered voters in the 18th Congressional District, which has gone nearly a year without representation in Washington.
Voters in the Houston district, which includes several parts of the city, can finally select a successor to late U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner, who died in March at age 70. But as of Wednesday, very few of them had taken advantage of the opportunity.
Early voting started Wednesday for the Jan. 31 special election runoff between former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards and former Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee, who are both Democrats like Turner. A total of 2,126 in-person ballots were cast Wednesday at the 17 early voting sites, according to the Harris County Clerk’s Office, which reported that another 1,895 voters had submitted ballots by mail.
That means about 1% of the registered voters in the district had cast ballots in the runoff when polls reopened Thursday morning.
“I hope that Congressional District 18 voters are listening and know exactly how important this is to have representation,” Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth said Wednesday.
Early voting continues through Tuesday, Jan. 27, with polls open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. each day except Sunday, Jan. 25. The county clerk’s office announced Friday that polls will be closed Sunday because of the winter weather.
“The safety of employees, election workers, and voters is my top priority,” Hudspeth said in a statement Friday. “I strongly encourage voters who are eligible to participate in this election to cast their ballots (Friday) and Saturday.”
On Election Day, which is Saturday, Jan. 31, polls will be open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.
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The Houston region likely will be coping with freezing weather and potentially icy road conditions on some of those days. A hard freeze with possible precipitation is in the forecast for Sunday and Monday, according to the National Weather Service.
Nine of the 17 early voting locations across the county saw fewer than 100 in-person voters on Wednesday. The most popular sites were the Acres Homes MultiService Center in Northwest Houston (286 in-person voters), Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in the Third Ward (284) and SPJST Lodge 88 in the Heights (257).
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The 18th Congressional District, which includes swaths north, south, east and west of downtown Houston, has been represented by a Black Democrat for more than 50 years, beginning with the election of Barbara Jordan in 1972. Sheila Jackson Lee represented the district for nearly 30 years until her death in 2024.
Whoever wins the Jan. 31 election will complete Turner’s unexpired term through the end of this year. Then either Edwards or Menefee will immediately have to defend the seat in a contested Democratic primary in March under newly redrawn congressional boundaries.
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The field for the March primary will include U.S. Rep. Al Green, another Black Democrat who has long represented the 9th Congressional District. Green is switching to the 18th District for his reelection bid, since his home and many of his current constituents were drawn into that district by Texas lawmakers.
“This special election is for the previous lines of CD 18,” Hudspeth said of the Jan. 31 runoff between Edwards and Menefee. “Many voters are aware that there were two special (legislative) sessions last fall, which led to redistricting. But the new lines will not be implemented until the March primaries.”
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