Why Houston has had so many special elections recently
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The Metropolitan Multi-Service Center on primary election day this year. Photo: Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images
Harris County voters are facing whiplash at the ballot box, with seven elections since November — and it's not over.
Why it matters: Most recent elections are struggling to draw even 10% of eligible voters, records show.
The big picture: The frequent elections are a result of Houston's political dynamic where one politician seeks higher office and causes a domino effect in their wake, University of Houston political expert Brandon Rottinghaus tells Axios.
Driving the news: Voters in Houston's District C elected Joe Panzarella on Saturday to represent them on City Council.
- Voters countywide will head back to the polls starting Monday to cast early ballots in the May 26 primary runoffs, which include county and congressional races.
What they're saying: "Houston politics functions like a political ladder," Rottinghaus tells Axios.
- "They're frequently running for different offices," he added. "You've got people running who are in City Council who want to run for county offices or people who are in county offices who want to run for Congress."
- "Whenever someone moves up, there's this chain reaction of vacancies."
Case in point: The two recent elections and several before them can be traced to the 2023 race for Houston mayor, Rottinghaus says.
- Democratic titans Sheila Jackson Lee and John Whitmire's mayoral bids opened two of Houston's historically powerful districts that drew crowded fields and caused a "cascade of new openings" that's reverberating at the ballot box today, Rottinghaus says.
What happened: Jackson Lee was the longtime representative for Houston's 18th Congressional District, and Whitmire had spent nearly 40 years representing Houston's state Senate District 15.
- Former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner won the next election to the 18th District in November 2024 and served until his death three months into his term in March 2025.
- Christian Menefee, who at the time was Harris County attorney, won a special election to finish Turner's term the following February and is on the ballot again for the May 26 Democratic runoff against U.S. Rep. Al Green for the term starting in 2027.
- Molly Cook, a community organizer, won a special election in 2024 to replace Whitmire in the Texas Senate.
Flashback: Houston District C City Council member Abbie Kamin announced in December her intentions to replace Menefee as county attorney.
- Months before, At-Large City Council member Letitia Plummer had announced her candidacy for Harris County judge.
- Both bids meant they'd eventually need to vacate their seats, so the city held two additional special elections to replace them. Their replacements are political newcomers who have not held office.
What's next: After the May 26 primary runoffs, all signs point to voters getting a reprieve from elections until November.