Abbott Sets Special Election Date to Fill Rep. Wright’s Seat
AUSTIN, Texas – Saturday, May 1, will be the day of the special election to fill the Texas 6th Congressional District seat recently vacated due to the death of Rep. Ron Wright.
Gov. Greg Abbott made the announcement Tuesday, adding that candidates who wish to have their names placed on the special election ballot must file their applications with the secretary of State no later than Wednesday, March 3.
Early voting will begin on Monday, April 19, the governor said.
Rep. Wright, a Republican, died earlier this month after being hospitalized following a positive test for COVID-19. He had also been battling lung cancer, complications of which saw him hospitalized last year.
“Despite years of painful, sometimes debilitating treatment for cancer, Ron never lacked the desire to get up and go to work, to motivate those around him, or to offer fatherly advice,” his office said in a statement.
Wright was the first sitting member of Congress to die after contracting COVID-19.
In December, an incoming Republican member of the House, Luke Letlow of Louisiana, died of complications related to the virus only days before he would have been sworn into office.
Wright had represented the 6th Congressional District in the Dallas-Fort Worth area since 2018. The special election in May is to fill his unexpired term.
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