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Washington-the former member of the City Council of Houston, Amanda Edwards, will apply for the 18th Congress District after the death of the American representative Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, Edwards, announced Wednesday.
“My commitment to this community has never faltered, and I will continue to fight for the opportunities and resources that our district needs,” Edwards said in a publication on social networks. “We need the next generation of new leaders in Washington to combat Trump attacks against jobs, medical care and education.”
Edwards ran without success for the seat twice last year. He faced the American representative Sheila Jackson Lee in the 2024 Democratic primaries. Jackson Lee won the primary but died before the general elections, opening the nomination of the party again. Edwards arrived second in that race to Turner, the former mayor of Houston.
Turner died earlier this month, leaving another vacancy. Governor Greg Abbott has the power to call a special choice to fill the seat and has a broad freedom to decide when it would be.
The seat is a democratic strength, which contains historically significant neighborhoods of the black community of Houston. Jackson Lee represented the district from 1995 until his death last year, making it one of the oldest members of the Texas Congress delegation at that time. Who wins the Democratic nomination will probably cling to the seat for years.
The vacancy has attracted other candidates to float their names. Harris County prosecutor, Christian Menefee, announced that he was running for the Democratic nomination. Isaiah Martin, former Jackson Lee staff member, too He said he was running Earlier this week. JOLAS JONES STATE REPRESENTATIVE, D-HOUSON, Said on social networks I was giving “a hard look” to run.
Edwards served at the Houston City Council from 2016 to 2020, focusing on small businesses and workers’ rights, especially for women and minorities. She was running in the Democratic primaries for the United States Senate in 2020 to challenge Senator John Cornyn, but arrived in fifth place, losing to MJ Hegar. Edwards ran for the mayor of Houston in 2023 to replace the outgoing Turner, but left the race when Jackson Lee announced that he was also entering the race.
Edwards in turn ran to replace Jackson Lee, but the two ended up running one against the other for the seat in Congress after Jackson Lee lost the mayor’s career against former state senator John Whitmire. Jackson Lee won the Democratic primaries in almost 23 percentage points.
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