In one of the most reliably Democratic seats in the state, voters finally chose a U.S. representative, former Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee, after nearly a year without one.
The results also showed that a deeply Democratic district did not translate into high participation.
On Jan. 31, 2026, Menefee won the special runoff election for Texas’ 18th Congressional District with roughly 68% of the vote, defeating fellow Democrat Amanda Edwards.
The win fills the U.S. House seat left vacant first by the death of U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in late 2024 and, later, the death of her successor, former Mayor Sylvester Turner, last March.
But while the Democratic Party maintained control, the story of the election was its extraordinarily low turnout, in a district with a 31.5% Black and 44% Hispanic voter population. With 423,945 registered voters in CD-18, only 23,732 ballots were cast, meaning fewer than 6% of voters participated in choosing their next congressman.
Per Fair Vote, a nonpartisan organization working on elections, this is normal for runoff elections, with a 69% decline in the TX-18 runoffs.
“Both election winners received fewer votes in the runoff than the general election – effectively defeating the purpose of the runoff,” Fair Vote reports says.
Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth warned voters of the low turnout before Election Day.
“About 800,000 residents live in District 18. Of that 800,000, more than 400,000 are registered, and less than 20,000 have actually cast a ballot during early voting.”
– Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth
“About 800,000 residents live in District 18. Of that 800,000, more than 400,000 are registered, and less than 20,000 have actually cast a ballot during early voting,” Hudspeth said. “So this is an alert to wake up and cast your ballot because tomorrow is the last opportunity to do so in the congressional district 18 runoff election.”
A Rice University study calls low voter turnout a “perennial concern” in Harris County, noting that 20 ZIP codes have fewer than 80% of their eligible voters registered.
Turnout trends: Special vs. general elections
Turnout in TX-18’s January runoff starkly contrasts with broader participation patterns in Texas.
In statewide general elections, such as the Nov. 2024 presidential contest, turnout tended to hover above 60% of registered voters statewide.
For example, in the November 2024 general election, about 61% of registered Texans participated.
By contrast, runoffs and special elections in Texas have a long history of poor turnout.
State historical turnout records show that primary runoffs often reach only single digits among registered voters, especially for Democrats, with some years dipping into the 1-3% range statewide.
These figures mirror trends seen in local Texas House district runoffs, where turnout routinely lags far behind that in general elections.
In the 18th Congressional District November 2025 special election (the first round before the runoff), turnout was higher, but still well below the general election average.
Of the 381,000 registered voters, about 76,000 voted, or roughly 20%. Slightly more than half the voters voted early or by mail ballot.
According to a 2024 report by Fair Vote, Texas spent over $5 million on congressional primary runoffs in 2024, and has seen a median turnout decline of 49% in these runoffs dating back to 1994.
Why the apathy?
Election officials and political observers point to several factors contributing to voter disengagement, including weather conditions that led to early-voting closures, lawsuits seeking extended voting days, redistricting confusion, and the timing of the election.
Special election runoffs may have particularly low turnout, according to Fair Vote, because they are scheduled on days without other elections, with low turnout and high costs being a staple of runoffs, whether they are special elections or regularly scheduled.
For Felisa Wilson, a retired military veteran, the election timing has had a huge impact.
“The district that you were in for decades, grew up in, that represents you and your people, your friends, your family, your church, all of a sudden…you’re out of your district, or you don’t know,” said Wilson. “It throws everyone into confusion. It angers people because it was unnecessary.”
Demographic and broader impacts
Nationwide and in Texas, young voters and communities of color tend to participate at lower rates than older and white voters, according to a Brookings analysis of 2022 election data.
Texas has about 409,000 18-year-old U.S. citizens, according to 2022 U.S. Census Bureau data. Of them, 39.6% of Texans aged 18 to 24 were registered to vote in November 2022, representing the largest decline in voter registration among any age group compared to the previous midterm election in 2018.
In the 2022 midterms, less than half of registered voters in Texas in the age group voted, compared to 86% voters aged 65 and higher.
CD-18, which includes large Black and Hispanic populations, likely experienced these same dynamics.
