Texas Governor Blames County’s Elections Problems For Delay In Filling Vacant Congressional Seat | EUROtoday

HOUSTON (AP) — Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott is blaming a historical past of election issues within the state’s most populous county for his delay in calling for a particular election to fill the seat of Democratic U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner, who died a month in the past.

But Teneshia Hudspeth, the chief elections officer in Harris County the place Turner’s congressional district is situated, pushed again on Abbott’s criticism, saying the county is “fully prepared” to carry the election for the congressman’s substitute.

Democrats have accused Abbott of delaying the election to assist Republicans keep their razor-thin margins within the U.S. House. One candidate vying for the open seat, Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee, together with Democratic U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, have threatened to sue Abbott over the delay.

Turner, a former Houston mayor, died March 5, simply weeks into his first time period in Congress. His district consists of elements of Houston and Harris County and has practically 800,000 residents.

Abbott has the only authority to name for a particular election. Abbott’s workplace had beforehand solely stated an announcement on a particular election could be made at a later date.

But throughout an interview on Thursday with KXAN in Austin, Abbott cited elections issues in Harris County for the delay. Elections have been scrutinized for a number of years in Harris County — which has practically 5 million residents, most of whom are Latino or Black. Problems have included lengthy strains, ballot employee and poll shortages and ballots that weren’t counted the day of the election.

In 2023, Abbott signed a invoice that eliminated Harris County’s elections administrator and transferred the accountability to different native officers, together with Hudspeth.

“Harris County is a repeat failure as it concerns operating elections. Had I called that very quickly, it could have led to a failure in that election, just like Harris County has failed in other elections. They need to have adequate time to operate a fair and accurate election, not a crazy election like what they’ve conducted in the past,” Abbott instructed KXAN.

Abbott didn’t give a date for the particular election, saying he could be “announcing that sometime soon.”

In an announcement on Friday, Hudspeth stated for the reason that state returned election administration duties to her workplace, “my office has successfully conducted eight elections.”

In a publish on X, Menefee known as Abbott’s feedback “nonsense.”

“Governor, call the election. You’ve had a month. No more excuses,” Menefee stated.