Houston district vote fills Turner seat

Houston’s 18th Congressional District moves toward a special election to finish the late Rep. Sylvester Turner’s term, after months of vacancy that Democrats say Gov. Greg Abbott prolonged. Amid confusion over a redrawn map demanded by President Donald Trump, Menefee and Edwards cast the race as a test of the president’s agenda, promising not just talk but results. The deep blue district’s shifting lines and demographics face scrutiny, while Republicans hold a 219-212 House edge with four vacancies and an unsworn Democratic winner in Arizona, leaving party leaders little room to maneuver.