Texas House District 28 runoff special election date set for Jan. 28

Editor's note: Both Eliz Markowitz and Gary Gates confirmed on Nov. 18 they filed for candidacy in the state 2020 primary election. The original story, which published at 10:22 a.m. on Nov. 18, is below.

Gov. Greg Abbott has set Jan. 28 as the special runoff election date for three vacated Texas House District seats, which includes state House District 28, according to a press release.

The first day of in-person early voting is Jan. 21, according to the release.

Citizens in House District 28—which covers a portion of Fort Bend County, including the Katy area, Fulshear, Simonton and the Sugar Land area—can cast a ballot for Democrat Eliz Markowitz or Republican Gary Gates. The two received the highest number of votes among the seven candidates running in the Nov. 5 election.

Markowitz received 11,355 votes, or 39.1%, and Gates received 8,271 votes, or 28.5%, according to unofficial results from Fort Bend County. Commissioners Court canvassed the results Nov. 14, but the elections department has not updated the results website as of Nov. 18.

Whichever candidate wins the special election runoff must file for candidacy again to be placed on the ballot for the March 3 primary election. The deadline to apply is Dec. 9.

The Nov. 5 special election for District 28 was held because former Rep. John Zerwas, a Republican, stepped down from the seat before the end of his elected term. He is now the executive vice chancellor for health affairs for the University of Texas System.