Amanda Edwards
State Rep. Jolanda Jones has endorsed Amanda Edwards in the runoff election for Texas’ 18th Congressional District. Jones is backing the former Houston city council member as the race heads into its final weeks, urging her own supporters to unify behind Edwards.
The Jan. 31 special election runoff will decide who fills the unexpired term of longtime U.S. Rep. and former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who died earlier this year. The contest pits Edwards against Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee in a district that has gone without congressional representation since March.
Jones announced her endorsement Tuesday, saying the decision was driven by conversations with supporters and by her assessment of who is best prepared to represent the district during a period of political volatility.
“A number of my supporters kept saying, ‘Who should we vote for?’” Jones said. “Some of them said that if I wasn’t in the race, they weren’t going to vote. This election is too important to sit on the sidelines.”
Edwards said Jones’ support reflects the coalition she is trying to build ahead of a low-turnout runoff election.
“We’re in a moment where representation in Congress matters,” Edwards said, pointing to ongoing debates over reproductive rights, maternal health and economic stability. She noted that nearly 60% of voters in the November special election were women and referenced the district’s history of electing leaders such as Barbara Jordan and Sheila Jackson Lee.
Jones, who finished third in the November special election with just under 20% of the vote after launching her campaign late, said her endorsement was not rooted in major policy differences among the candidates. Instead, she emphasized leadership style, temperament and persistence.
CD-18: Black women voters could decide the runoff for Sylvester Turner’s old seat
“I trust Black women. It’s that simple,” Jones said, describing what she called persistent misogyny and colorism Edwards faced during the campaign. “Amanda showed me nothing in this race to make me doubt that she would be the best representative for us.”
The endorsement applies only to the Jan. 31 special election runoff, Jones said, and was timed in part to ensure her supporters had clarity before mail ballots begin arriving. Jones is currently running unopposed in the Democratic primary for House District 147.
In other words, this does not apply to the March primary for the new CD18, possibly because it would be a more complicated issue if Edwards doesn’t win the runoff, possibly because of the presence of Rep. Al Green. Whatever the case, I’m usually not all that interested in individual endorsements of candidates, but this is a case where it might make a difference. Edwards trailed Menefee by less than three thousand votes in November, while Jones collected over 14K votes in finishing third. It’s hard to know how much marginal effect this might have, but it doesn’t have to have that much to be a factor. Other things still matter, like fundraising and regular old voter outreach. There’s not that much activity happening right now as we head into the holidays, but that will change quickly. This is a good development for Edwards.