Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) announced an expedited schedule on Wednesday evening for the special election to fill the recently vacated seat for Texas House District 124. The election will be on March 31, 2015. The district primarily represents western portions of San Antonio and Bexar County.

As Breitbart Texas reported, the seat became vacant after Sen. José Menéndez (D-San Antonio) defeated Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D-San Antonio) 59 percent to 41 percent in a special election last month for Senate District 26, which itself was vacant after Sen. Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio) left to run for Mayor of San Antonio.

According to the proclamation issued by the Governor’s office, Texas election laws require this special election to be held on an expedited schedule, because it is early during the legislative session.

Candidates who wish to have their names on the ballot will have until 5:00 p.m. on March 10, 2015 to submit their applications to the Secretary of State. The early voting period will be from March 23 to March 27, 2015.

The winner of the HD 124 special election will serve the remainder of Menéndez’s term, and be up for re-election November 2016.

Follow Sarah Rumpf on Twitter @rumpfshaker.