The SET Act would require states to hold special elections for vacant U.S. House seats within 180 days.
HOUSTON — Rep. Christian Menefee is introducing his first original bill in Congress, a proposal aimed at preventing communities from going months without representation in the U.S. House.
The bill is called the Special Election Timeliness Act, or SET Act. It would require states to hold special elections to fill vacant U.S. House seats within 180 days of a vacancy, unless a regularly scheduled general election for that same seat falls within that window.
Menefee’s office says the bill is directly tied to what happened in Texas’ 18th Congressional District after the death of Congressman and former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.
Turner died in March 2025, leaving the Houston-area district without a representative in Congress for months. KHOU 11 previously reported on calls for Gov. Greg Abbott to set a special election and growing concerns from voters and local leaders about the district being left without a voice in Washington.
Menefee’s office says TX-18 went 334 days without representation.
In his first TV interview about the bill, Menefee told KHOU 11 the district’s long vacancy meant people in TX-18 did not have someone in Congress advocating for federal dollars and major legislation.
“The 18th District experienced something unique. We went nearly a year without congressional representation,” Menefee said. “That meant when folks in D.C. were voting on budgets, on where the money was going to come back to our communities, we had no voice, nobody in Congress to advocate for us.”
Menefee said he wanted his first bill to prevent congressional vacancies from being used as a political weapon.
“I don’t care if you’re Republican, independent, Democratic,” Menefee said. “We should not be allowing politicians to use our vacancies in Congress as a political weapon. This bill is designed to stop that from happening across the country.”
Under current law, when a U.S. House seat becomes vacant, the Constitution requires the governor to call a special election. But it does not set a specific deadline for when that election has to happen.
The SET Act would create that deadline nationwide.
The bill text says a special election must happen no later than 180 days after the vacancy occurs, unless a regularly scheduled general election for that office is already set to happen within that same 180-day period.
Menefee said the 180-day window is meant to set a national floor while still allowing states with stricter timelines to keep them.
“It provides a deadline of 180 days,” Menefee said. “That’s six months. It’s a long time period. And some states, they have an even shorter time period. But what I want to make sure happens is that nobody in the country goes more than six months without congressional representation.”
The bill would also give the proposal enforcement power. Under the bill, the Attorney General could go to court to force a state to comply. A person harmed by a violation, including the Speaker of the House or House Minority Leader, could also file a civil action in federal court.
Menefee said that kind of enforcement mechanism was missing in Texas.
“When the issue popped up, we didn’t have a mechanism to go in and hold the governor accountable,” Menefee said.
The proposal comes after a turbulent year for District 18.
After Turner’s death, voters waited months for a special election to fill the seat. KHOU 11 covered confusion around the election process, including questions from voters about whether they were still in the district after new congressional maps were drawn.
The special election eventually led to a runoff between Menefee and Amanda Edwards. Menefee won the runoff and was later sworn in to fill the long-vacant seat.
The district has also been at the center of Texas’ redistricting fight. KHOU 11 has covered how newly drawn congressional maps affected Houston-area district lines, including District 18, and how legal challenges over those maps created uncertainty for voters.
Menefee said the bill should not be a partisan issue.
“I don’t want my first bill to be about Democrats or by Republicans,” Menefee said. “I want it to be about the American people and about passing something.”
Supporters of the bill include several local officials who represent communities inside District 18, including State Sen. Borris Miles, Houston City Controller Chris Hollins and State Rep. Lauren Ashley Simmons.
Menefee said the bill has support from some Democrats in Congress, including Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee.
The bill now has to move through Congress.
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