House GOP's already fragile majority to further shrink after Democrats' ballot box victory

02 Feb 2026 By foxnews

Democrat Christian Menefee, a former attorney for Houston's Harris County, has won a special congressional election in a left-leaning district in Texas, which has been vacant for nearly a year.

The Associated Press reports that Menefee defeated former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards, a fellow Democrat, in Saturday's runoff election to fill the seat left vacant when Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner died last March.

Menefee's victory means the Republicans' razor-thin House majority - they currently control the chamber 218-213 - will shrink by one seat when Menefee is sworn in to Congress.

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Sylvester, a former longtime state lawmaker, served two terms as Houston mayor before winning election to Congress in 2024 to fill the seat of the late longtime Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.

While Texas has redrawn its congressional maps for the 2026 midterms, as part of the high-stakes redistricting battle between President Donald Trump and Republicans versus Democrats, the special election used the state's current district lines.

The addition of another lawmaker into the House Democrats' ranks will give Republican leadership in the chamber further headaches.

"They'd better be here," House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., recently said of his members. "I told everybody, and not in jest, I said, no adventure sports, no risk-taking, take your vitamins. Stay healthy and be here."

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And House Majority Whip Tom Emmer's office confirmed it is advising members that "outside of life-and-death circumstances," they expect Republican lawmakers to be on Capitol Hill.

Three other special congressional elections are on tap this year.

Eleven candidates are running in the Feb. 5 Democratic Party primary in New Jersey's 11th Congressional District.

The seat was left vacant after now New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill stepped down after winning November's gubernatorial election in the Garden State.

The winner of the Democratic primary will face off with Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway, the only Republican to file for the special election, which will be held on April 16.

The suburban district in northern New Jersey leans to the left, with Sherrill winning re-election in 2024 by 15 points, the same margin she carried the district in November's gubernatorial showdown.

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But then-Vice President Kamala Harris won the district by just eight points in the 2024 presidential election, giving the GOP some hopes of possibly flipping the seat.

A whopping 22 candidates, including 17 Republicans, are running in a special election in Georgia's 14th Congressional District, in the race to succeed former GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The MAGA firebrand and one-time top Trump House ally four weeks ago stepped down from Congress a year before her term ended.

According to Georgia state law, all the candidates will run on the same ballot. If no contender tops 50% of the vote, a runoff election between the top two finishers will take place on April 7.

The district in northwestern Georgia is solidly Republican, with Greene winning re-election in 2024 by nearly 30 points and Trump carrying the district by 37 points.

Primary Day in California for the 2026 elections is scheduled for June 2, and this year it will also include a primary for the special election in the state's 1st Congressional District, in the race to fill a seat left vacant following the recent unexpected death of Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa. The general election will be held on Aug. 4.

The district, in northeastern California, is solidly Republican.

Similar to Texas, California is also altering its congressional maps as part of the redistricting wars, but the special election will be held under the current district lines.

The White House and congressional Republicans criticized the decision by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom to not hold a special election to fill LaMalfa's seat until August, six months after the late congressman's death.

But Democrats similarly complained about Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas not scheduling the special election to fill Turner's seat until eight months after the late lawmaker died.

Fox News' Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this story.