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Twenty-seven candidates have filed for a trio of Nov. 5 special elections to fill state House seats, including one that Democrats are aiming to flip, according to the secretary of state's office.
The filing deadline was 5 p.m. Wednesday.
The most closely watched contest will be in House District 28, where Rep. John Zerwas is stepping down at the end of the month to join the University of Texas System. The Richmond Republican won reelection last year by 8 percentage points, and Democrats were already targeting HD-28 as they push to capture the House majority next year.
Democrats in HD-28 have coalesced around Elizabeth "Eliz" Markowitz, who was the only Democrat to file. Markowitz, a Katy teacher, unsuccessfully ran last year for State Board of Education District 7, which overlaps with HD-28.
Six Republicans, meanwhile, filed for the seat, making it likely that there will be a runoff featuring one of them and Markowitz, who will not have to split the Democratic vote. The GOP contenders are:
- Anna Allred, a Houston anesthesiologist from the same doctor group as Zerwas
- Gary Gates, a Rosenberg businessman who has unsuccessfully run for several other offices, most recently railroad commissioner in 2016
- Gary J. Hale, a Katy business owner who has his own intelligence firm and is a retired intelligence official with the Drug Enforcement Administration
- Tricia Krenek, a Katy attorney and former member of the Fulshear City Council
- Sarah Laningham, a Richmond woman who works in sales and unsuccessfully ran for House District 14 in 2018
- Clinton D. Purnell, a Katy man who works in logistics and customs compliance
The other two special elections are happening in safely Democratic districts, though they too have drawn large fields that all but guarantee runoffs. In House District 148, 15 candidates — 12 Democrats, two Republicans and one independent — filed to succeed Houston Democratic Rep. Jessica Farrar, who like Zerwas, is leaving the House on Sept. 30. In House District 100, five Democrats have lined up to replace former Rep. Eric Johnson, D-Dallas, who vacated the seat earlier this year after winning the Dallas mayoral race.
Just so we know, here is the constitutional language establishing how vacancies in the legislature are filled:
(Article 3,) Sec. 13. VACANCY IN LEGISLATURE. (a) When vacancies occur in either House, the Governor, or the person exercising the power of the Governor, shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies; and should the Governor fail to issue a writ of election to fill any such vacancy within twenty days after it occurs, the returning officer of the district in which such vacancy may have happened, shall be authorized to order an election for that purpose.
(b) The legislature may provide by general law for the filling of a vacancy in the legislature without an election if only one person qualifies and declares a candidacy in an election to fill the vacancy.
(Amended Nov. 6, 2001.)
The amendment in question added section b.
Proposition 9: Canceling special election if legislative candidate is unopposed
FOR 557,707 67.6%
AGAINST 267,724 32.4%
For analysis of the amendment, click here.
Here is the statutory language related to special elections.
