Houston, Texas - Texas' Republican Governor Greg Abbott has set January 31 as the date for the special election runoff to represent the state's 18th congressional district in the US House.

Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee and former Houston City Councilmember Amanda Edwards, both Democrats, advanced to the runoff after coming out in first and second place in the crowded race on Election Day.

The Texas-18 seat, which covers parts of Houston, 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 his swearing-in. The seat has been empty ever since.

Democrats have criticized Abbott for putting off the special election for so long.

The timing of the runoff gives the newly elected representative just one month in office before the March 3 primary for a full term in the seat. Congressman Al Green has already filed paperwork to run – teeing up a tough challenge for the winner of January's contest.

Under the state's new gerrymandered electoral maps, Texas-18 is due to change significantly, with huge swaths of the voting population to be split into different districts.