Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced that Tuesday, November 4, will be the special election date to fill the 18th Congressional District vacancy following the death of U.S. Representative Sylvester Turner (D-TX) last month.
The Texas Secretary of State’s website indicates that state law restricts special elections to two uniform dates each year, with Abbott opting for November 4 over the alternative, May 3, according to KXAN.
The majority Democratic-leaning 18th District encompasses much of inner city Houston and the surrounding area in Harris County.
Abbott wrote in a news release about the announcement that “No county in Texas does a worse job of conducting elections than Harris County,” suggesting that the extended timeframe would benefit the county.
“They repeatedly fail to conduct elections consistent with state law. Safe and secure elections are critical to the foundation of our state. Forcing Harris County to rush this special election on weeks’ notice would harm the interests of voters. The appropriate time to hold this election is November, which will give Harris County sufficient time to prepare for such an important election,” the governor added.
Some Democratic officials have criticized the extended delay.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) claimed that Abbott “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.”
“Governor Abbott is openly conspiring with House Republicans to rig the system and disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of Harris County residents,” said Jeffries in a statement, per Roll Call.
Similarly, Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee, who is running to replace Turner in Congress, called it “unconscionable” to wait more than 200 days for the special election.
“We’ll go through hurricane season, budget battles, and attacks on Social Security and Medicaid with no one at the table fighting for us,” he said, as reported by the Associated Press.
Abbot explained his concerns about a rushed election, emphasizing that the lengthy timeline is intended to ensure a smooth process.
“Had I called that very quickly, it could have led to a failure in that election, just like Harris County has failed in other elections, they need to have adequate time to operate a fair and accurate election, not a crazy election like what they’ve conducted in the past,” he said, per KXAN.