Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Calls Special Election Following Filemon Vela’s Early Retirement

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday called for a special election to happen on June 14 to fill the vacant House seat left open by U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela (D-TX), who announced last week he would resign from office last week after already announcing he would not seek reelection.

The filing deadline for Texas’ Thirty-second Congressional District to fill Vela’s seat is on April 13, according to Abbott’s proclamation. Vela resigned last Thursday after announcing he would be taking a job with Akin Gump, prominent D.C. lobbying and law firm.

Abbott had the option to schedule the special election on the same day as election day in November but instead called an “emergency special election” to fill the seat sooner. In his reasoning, he cited the coronavirus and the “surge of individuals unlawfully crossing the Texas-Mexico border” as his reasoning for why it is “imperative to fill this vacancy to ensure that Congressional District 34 is fully represented as soon as possible.”

The special election will be held under the current congressional district since the redistricting maps do not take place until January 2023, when this current term ends. Although, the district will be a little more competitive since President Joe Biden won the district by four points in 2020.

The special election winner would only finish out the current term, which ends January 2023, and would still have to run in the general election in November for the next term.

However, Republicans, who have been trying to make advancements with the community in South Texas, are looking to have an early win before the November midterms. Republican Mayra Flores, who was already running for a full term in the new redistricted congressional district against Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), said she would run in the special election.

Flores told Breitbart News last month that she is “confident” she could win the special election. She also believes that voters in her district have values aligned with the Republican Party.

“South Texas is very conservative,” Flores said. “We are all about God, family, and country. We’re very hardworking. Our values align with the Republican Party. But you know, for so long, it’s the lack of education. A lot of people don’t know what the Republican Party stands for.”

Gonzalez, who ditched his old congressional district to run in Vela’s old district, said he does not have a plan to run in the special election, as he still is a member of Congress, which leaves local and national Democrats to find a candidate who would only represent the district for less than a year if elected.

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter.