“Filemon Vela is abandoning us while we have a crisis on our border and families can’t afford groceries and gas because prices are so high,” Flores said in a statement. Mayra Flores, the current Republican nominee for the district in November’s general election, quickly made clear that she was in for the special election. He could, for example, cite problems related to illegal immigration as an emergency to fill Vela’s seat, which is located on the border.Ībbott’s office did not respond to a request for comment Thursday on his plans for Vela’s seat.īut Republicans were already mobilizing. To justify an emergency special election, all Abbott has to do is publicize the “nature of the emergency,” according to the election code. Rather than wait until November to fill the seat, Abbott invoked the emergency of Hurricane Harvey and scheduled the special election in the coastal district for June 30. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi, left Congress. But Abbott also has the option of calling what is known as an “emergency special election,” which would allow him to bypass the uniform election dates and schedule the election on any Tuesday or Saturday between 36 and 64 days after he calls it.Ībbott went that route in 2018 after then-U.S. The next uniform election after that is Nov. While it is still more than 36 days out from then, federal law requires that military and overseas ballots be sent out 45 days before a federal election - a deadline that was Wednesday. The next uniform election is May 7, but that is very unlikely to be the special election date. Greg Abbott to call a special election to fill the seat, but the timing of that depends on multiple factors.įirst, Abbott can call a special election for the next uniform election date, as long as his call is at least 36 days out. Once Vela resigns, state law requires Gov. The new boundaries will be used in the November general election, which will determine who serves in the two-year term that begins next year. The district was redrawn last year to be safer for Democrats and would have had a Biden margin of 16 points. The special election would be under the boundaries of the previous, more competitive 34th District, which President Joe Biden carried by only 4 percentage points in 2020. He said Thursday he would resign in the coming weeks to work for Akin Gump, a prominent law and lobbying firm. Vela already announced he was not seeking reelection in the 34th Congressional District, which stretches from outside San Antonio south to the Rio Grande Valley. “Republicans talk a big game about flipping seats in South Texas, but this is the party that voted against historic infrastructure investments and creating good-paying jobs in the Valley,” Monica Robinson, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement. The National Republican Congressional Committee called Vela’s early exit the latest sign that the national environment is unfavorable for Democrats - and that “South Texas is a top battleground for Republicans.” Democrats scoffed. The winner of the special election will get to serve for only a short period, but Republicans are already eyeing the election as an opportunity to show their growing strength in the region. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, revealed Thursday he plans to leave Congress early. Democrats are suddenly staring down a special election in South Texas, an increasingly competitive region, after U.S.
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