Democrat Christian Menefee wins the Texas special election, reducing the GOP majority
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Democrat Christian Menefee, a former attorney for Harris County, Houston, won a special congressional election in the left-leaning Texas district, which has been vacant for nearly a year.
The Associated Press reports that Menefee defeated former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards, also a Democrat, in Saturday’s election to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner last March.
Menefee’s victory means that the slim majority of Republicans in the House – who currently control the chamber 218-213 – will shrink by one seat when Menefee is sworn into Congress.
FEAR OF DEMOCRATIC TAKEAWAY GROWS AS HOUSE REPUBLICANS TAKE SLIDER MAJORITY
Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee has been endorsed by the Political Committee of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. (Harris County Attorney’s Office official website)
Sylvester, a former longtime state representative, served two terms as mayor of Houston before winning election to Congress in 2024, to unseat a Democratic Rep. The late Sheila Jackson Lee.
When Texas redrew its congressional maps for the 2026 midterms, as part of a bitter redistricting battle between President Donald Trump and Republicans against Democrats, the special election used the current district lines.
Democratic Congressman Sylvester Turner of Texas died on March 5, 2025. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
The addition of another representative to the ranks of House Democrats will give the Republican leadership in the chamber another headache.
“They better be here,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said recently of his members. “I told everyone, not jokingly, I said, no adventure sports, no risk taking, take your vitamins. Stay healthy and be here.”
FEAR OF DEMOCRATIC TAKEAWAY GROWS AS HOUSE REPUBLICANS TAKE SLIDER MAJORITY
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., leaves the chamber to speak to reporters after the final vote to end the longest government shutdown in history, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
And the office of House Majority Whip Tom Emmer confirmed that he is advising members that “except in life and death situations,” they expect Republican lawmakers to be on Capitol Hill.
Another special election for the three congressmen he is looking at this year.
Eleven candidates entered the main contest on Feb. 5 Democratic Party in the 11th Congressional District of New Jersey.
The seat was left vacant after now New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill he stepped down after winning the November gubernatorial election in the Garden State.
The then Democratic Rep. Mikey Sherrill stepped down from Congress in November after winning election as governor of New Jersey. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The winner of the Democratic primary will face Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway, the only Republican running in the April 16 special election.
The state of northern New Jersey leans left, and Sherrill won re-election in 2024 by 15 points, which is how he carried the state in November’s presidential contest.
PRESS LETTER: HOUSE EXODUS THREATS JOHNSON’S PARTNERSHIP AS MORE THAN 40 MEMBERS MAY LEAVE.
But then-Vice President Kamala Harris won the district by just eight points in the 2024 presidential election, giving the GOP hopes it could flip the seat.
22 candidates, including 17 Republicans, are running in the special election in Georgia’s 14th congressional district, in the race to replace former GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The publisher of MAGA and a top Trump House ally four weeks ago resigned from Congress a year before the end of his term.
Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene resigned from Congress on Jan. 5, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
According to Georgia state law, all candidates shall run on the same ballot. If no candidate tops 50 votes, a runoff between the top two finishers will be held on April 7.
The northwest Georgia state is solidly Republican, with Greene winning re-election in 2024 by nearly 30 points and Trump carrying the state by 37 points.
Primary Day in California for the 2026 election is scheduled for June 2, and this year will also include the basis for a special election in the state’s first congressional district, in the race to fill the seat left vacant following the recent unexpected death of Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa. The general election will be held on August 4.
The state, in northeastern California, is solidly Republican.
Republican Representative Doug LaMalfa of California died on Jan. 6, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Similar to Texas, California is also changing its congressional maps as part of the redistricting battle, but the special election will be held under current district lines.
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The White House and congressional Republicans have criticized Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision not to hold a special election to fill LaMalfa’s seat until August, six months after the congressional shutdown.
But Democrats complain in the same way about Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas is not planning a special election to fill Turner’s seat until eight months after the late lawmaker’s death.
Elizabeth Elkind of Fox News contributed to this story.
