House Updates: James Running for MI Gov.; Abbott Calls TX Special Election

A couple U.S. House updates.

Michigan

GOP Rep. John James (MI-10) announced Monday that he will run for governor in 2026. He joins a high-profile, competitive race to succeed the state's Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Faith and Family.
God and Country.
Service Before Self.

Michigan First. pic.twitter.com/drYWqGSi3C

— John James (@JohnJamesMI) April 7, 2025

Whitmer is completing her second term in office and is ineligible to run due to term limit laws.

James will likely have significant competition for the Republican nomination. Already in the race is Aric Nesbitt, who is the Minority Leader of the State Senate. Former Attorney General Mike Cox has formed an exploratory committee, while Tudor Dixon, who lost to Whitmer in 2022, has also recently expressed interest. A March poll with all four of these candidates had James and Dixon statistically tied at around 30%, with Cox and Nesbitt well behind. 

James is in his second term representing Michigan's 10th congressional district, which encompasses a suburban area just north of Detroit. It is one of the more competitive seats in the state; James won by about 6% in 2024. While initial expert ratings for 2026 were in the tilt/lean Republican area, it would not be surprising to see these shift toward toss-up as the dust settles.

Five current House members have said they will seek another office in 2026. This includes four Republicans, all of whom are running for governor of their respective states. 

Texas

Residents of the amusingly-shaped 18th congressional district have been without representation since the death of Democrat Sylvester Turner early last month.

They'll be waiting a while longer. On Monday, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott scheduled the special election for November 4. Abbott said the long delay was to give Harris County sufficient time to prepare; there have been some issues with administering elections in the past. The more plausible reason is to keep this safe Democratic seat vacant for as long as possible, given the narrow majority Republicans have in the House.

As Jacob Rubashkin of Inside Elections notes, "Texas special elections are all-party contests - if no one wins a majority then there's a runoff six weeks later." Given that several Democrats have already entered the race, this outcome would further delay the seating of a new representative.

Republicans currently hold a 220-213 partisan advantage in the U.S. House. The other vacancy, in Arizona's 7th District, will be filled in a September 23 special election, preceded by party primaries in July.