Democrats Win U.S. House Special Election, Threatening GOP Majority

A Democratic candidate has won a special election for the U.S. House of Representatives held in the State of Texas. Republicans, who previously held five more seats than Democrats in the House, will see that margin shrink to four seats with this loss.
According to The Associated Press (AP) and other U.S. media on the 1st (local time), Democrat Christian Menefee won the special election held the previous day in Texas's 18th congressional district. The 18th district is a Democratic stronghold, and the seat had been vacant since Democratic former Representative Sylvester Turner died in March last year.
During the campaign, Menefee pledged to pursue universal health insurance and vowed to impeach Kristi Noem, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), who is driving the hard-line immigration policies of the Donald John Trump administration. Menefee will serve out the remainder of Turner's term in the House, which runs until January next year.
The United States House of Representatives has 435 seats in total. It is currently composed of 218 Republicans, 213 Democrats, and four vacancies, including Texas's 18th congressional district. Once Menefee is officially sworn in, the Democratic caucus will rise to 214 seats, narrowing the gap with Republicans to four.
The special election was held nearly a year after Turner’s death. Democrats criticized Republican Governor of Texas Greg Abbott, arguing that he delayed the vote to preserve the Republican advantage in House seats for as long as possible, while Abbott claimed that local authorities were not ready to hold the election sooner.
The defeat in this special election is expected to intensify pressure on Republicans from Donald Trump. On November 3, the midterm election will be held to choose 35 of the 100 members of the United States Senate, all 435 members of the House, and 36 of the 50 state governors. Republicans currently control majorities in both chambers, holding 53 of 100 seats in the Senate, but it is uncertain whether they can maintain that dominance. Trump told Republican House members gathered on March 6, "We absolutely have to win the midterm election. If we do not win the midterm election, they will look for a reason to impeach me. I will be impeached."
Meanwhile, in a special election for the State of Texas Senate held on March 31, Democratic candidate Taylor Ramey was leading the Republican candidate by 14 percentage points with nearly all votes counted.
Texas is controlled by Republicans at both the state government and state legislature levels, and the district where Ramey is ahead is a solid Republican stronghold that Donald Trump won by 17 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election. Trump even posted on social media the day before the vote, urging support for the Republican candidate. Lieutenant Governor of Texas Dan Patrick called Ramey’s victory "a wake-up call for Republicans across Texas." Republican candidate Lee Wormsganss, who lost to Ramey, also issued a statement on the 1st, arguing that turnout was low, saying, "Too many Republican supporters stayed home."


pjw@fnnews.com Park Jong-won Reporter