Democrats are threatening legal action over Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's delay in calling a special election to replace Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Texas, who died earlier this year, Punchbowl News reported.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said House Democrats would likely pursue a lawsuit, though he did not offer further details. Democrats are anxious to fill the seat in a deep blue district.
Harris County attorney Christian Menefee, a candidate in the race, and the Texas Democratic Party have also threatened legal action.
"Call an emergency election or lawyer up," the party said.
Texas state law grants Abbott sole authority to call a special election, with no specific deadline. The state's election code says a special election is to "be ordered as soon as practicable after the vacancy occurs."
Abbott, a Republican, is not expected to call an emergency special election to give Democrats an additional seat in the House of Representatives, which the GOP controls with a slim majority.
The next election a new House candidate could be voted on will be on Election Day, after Abbott missed a deadline to call an election in May, Punchbowl reported.
It took Abbott 16 days to call for an election after Republican Rep. Ron Wright died, with the election taking place 83 days after Wright's passing died. After Democrat Rep. Filemon Vela's seat became vacant, Abbott called for a special election four days later, with the election taking place 82 days after the vacancy.
Following Democrat Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee's death, Abbott called an election two weeks later, with the election taking place 108 days after the seat became vacant.
Turner died 29 days ago.
Amanda Edwards, who is running for the vacant seat, told Punchbowl she wants Abbott to hurry the process along.
"Having 800,000 people with no representation is not the right thing," Edwards said.
Abbott's office did not respond to several requests for comment from Punchbowl.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.