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After the passing of former Houston mayor and Congressman Sylvester Turner, his seat in Congress as the representative for Texas' 18th congressional district has remained open. It's now up to the Governor to call a special election to fill it. This process may take some time.
That seat, which was previously held by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee until her passing, has always been a reliable Democratic vote. That trend is likely to continue after the seat is filled. The current frontrunner to replace Turner is Democratic Harris County attorney Christian Menefee.
Political strategist Vlad Davidiuk pointed out that Abbott won't be in any rush to let another Democrat into Congress when the GOP has such a slim majority. He said, "Knowing that it's going to be a Democrat who replaces Turner, it makes a lot of sense for Gov. Abbott to allow time to pass."
He then said that Speaker Mike Johnson should take advantage of this temporary boost to his majority that Abbott is making available to him. He said, "Right now is a really great time for Speaker Johnson to push forward on pieces of legislation that would face steeper opposition with the Democrats."
Davidiuk isn't sure if there's any specific legislation that Johnson has been waiting to push, but if there is, now would be his moment.
Unfortunately for Johnson, Abbott can't just leave the seat open forever. But Davidiuk expects him to push this advantage as long as possible and leave Turner's seat open until at least November of this year.