The decision to wait until November means a narrowly divided Congress will be down a Democratic representative for most of 2025.

Gov. Greg Abbott called a November special election to fill Texas' 18th Congressional District seat, which was left vacant after the passing of the late Houston mayor and former congressman Sylvester Turner.

Democrats had accused Abbott of delaying calling a special election for the seat after Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Texas, died in early March.