HOUSTON — On Monday, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said that a special election won’t happen until November to fill the seat of the late Democratic U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner. He explained the decision by criticising past elections in the Houston area again.
Democrats say that Abbott pushed back the election after Turner’s death on March 5 to help Republicans keep their razor-thin majority in the U.S. House. Abbott’s news that the special election will be on November 4 came at that time. Abbott is the only one who can call for a special poll.
The governor said that the extra time would “give Harris County enough time to prepare for such an important election.”
In the past few years, Harris County, which includes Houston, has been under a lot of scrutiny because of problems like long lines, a lack of poll workers and ballots, and ballots that were not checked on election day.
In a news release, Abbott said, “Safe and secure elections are essential to the foundation of our state.” “Forcing Harris County to hold this special election quickly with only a few weeks’ notice would be bad for voters.”
The county has 5 million people, most of whom are Latino or Black. It is the most populous in Texas and the third most populous in the U.S.
Christian Menefee, the attorney for Harris County who is running for Turner’s old spot, said the wait was too long. A vote was called for by Menefee in June.
He said in a statement, “It is unacceptable to leave nearly 800,000 people in this district without a voice in Congress for most of the year.” “No one will be there to fight for us during hurricane season, budget fights, and attacks on Social Security and Medicaid.”
Menefee and Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader of the U.S. House Minority, had said they would sue Abbott over the delay.
Teneshia Hudspeth, who is in charge of elections in Harris County, said last week that the county was “fully prepared” to hold the election.
Abbott signed a bill in 2023 that got rid of Harris County’s elections administrator and gave the job to other county officials, including Hudspeth. Hudspeth said, “Since then, my office has successfully run eight elections.”
Turner, who had been mayor of Houston before, died just a few weeks into his first time in Congress.
