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Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-TX) unexpectedly passed away on March 5, 2025. Instead of holding the special election in a timely manner, Gov. Abbott issued a proclamation stating that the election would be held on November 4, 2025.
Abbott is going to deny voters in the heavily Democratic Houston area district representation for almost eight months.
Hakeem Jeffries let Abbott have it:
Governor Abbott is openly conspiring with House Republicans to rig the system and disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of Harris County residents.
The Honorable Sylvester Turner tragically passed away on March 5, 2025, and the Governor intentionally delayed calling a special election for nearly five weeks – or three more than he has historically taken – in order to avoid having to hold the special election in May.
House Republicans know their billionaire-first agenda is entirely out of step with the American people. That’s why they’re doing everything they can to salvage their razor-thin majority in order to enact the largest Medicaid cut in American history.
House Democrats remain committed to giving a voice to the people of TX-18 and we are actively exploring legal options to compel Governor Abbott and his House Republican co-conspirators to do the right thing.
Jeffries was correct. Abbott did stall on calling the special election because he wanted Trump and Johnson to have little more space to pass their tax cuts for the rich.
There is no practical reason for delaying the special election.
The Republican agenda is unpopular, and the Senate version of the budget bill could crash and burn in the House this week. If that happens, Republicans are already warning that they could be bumping up against the deadline to raise the debt limit.
The GOP’s attitude is who cares about democratic represenation when the rich need a tax cut.
Here is hoping that Jeffries sues Abbott so that the people can pick a new representative before November.
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