Houston, Texas - None of the more than a dozen candidates secured the votes necessary to win outright a special election Tuesday to represent Texas' 18th congressional district in the US House.

Christian Menefee and Amanda Edwards are advancing to a runoff in the race to represent Texas-18, which covers parts of Houston.

The seat was long held by the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who died in office in July 2024 after a battle with cancer.

Jackson Lee's daughter, Erica Lee Carter, completed her mother's term after winning a special election that November, but chose not to run for a full term after that.

Lee Carter's successor, former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, died last March – just weeks after taking the seat.

The seat has now been empty for nearly eight months, with 16 candidates stepping up to fill the vacancy in Tuesday's special contest.

Of those, Menefee and Edwards – both Democrats – performed the best, winning 30.2% and 25.8% of the vote respectively, according to NBC. The next closest candidate was Jolanda Jones, also a Democrat, at 18.5%.

No candidate was close to the 50% threshold needed to avert a runoff.

The Associated Press declared the runoff between Menefee and Edwards at 12:47 AM EST.

Menefee is the current county attorney for Harris County, the youngest person and first Black American ever to serve in the role.

The 37-year-old is known for lawsuits he has filed challenging Texas' Republican Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton over voting restrictions as well as bans on mask and vaccine mandates. He has joined challenges to President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration and filed high-profile environmental complaints.

If elected to Congress, Menefee's stated priorities include lowering the cost of living, expanding health care access, ending for-profit prisons, securing tougher environmental protections, and more.

Menefee is backed by a host of prominent Texas Democrats, including Lee Carter, Representatives Jasmine Crockett and Lizzie Fletcher, and former presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke. He has also received endorsements from Leaders We Deserve, the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, and a number of labor unions.

Edwards is a 43-year-old attorney and former member of the Houston City Council from 2016-2020. She unsuccessfully ran for US Senate in 2020 before losing the 2024 US House Democratic primary to Jackson Lee.

Her platform calls for living wages, greater worker protections, expanded health care access, and better systems to deal with disasters.

She is backed by Representatives Lateefah Simon and Jennifer McClellan, as well as Emily's List, the Elect Black Women PAC, and the Texas Coalition of Black Democrats - Harris County.

Abbott will set the date for the runoff, which is not expected to take place until early next year. The 2026 primary for a full term in the seat is scheduled for March.