“Once Menefee is sworn in, it will be 218 R, 214 D.”
Democrat Christian Menefee won the special election runoff for Texas’s 18th Congressional District with 68.4% of the vote, defeating Amanda Edwards. The seat had been vacant for nearly a year following the death of Rep. Sylvester Turner in March 2025. Menefee, the former Harris County Attorney, will be sworn in, changing the House composition to 218 Republicans and 214 Democrats. A four-seat margin is exactly the kind of cushion that makes every absence and defection a crisis.