The Texas House District 56 special race could set a new precedent for outgoing lawmakers

When I look at my sample ballot for McLennan County, I see all the races I expected.

At the top is the President and Vice President, U.S. Senator, then a little further down, State Representative for District 56, seat of an appeals court, State Representative for District 56… wait… that can’t be right.

But it is like that.

Earlier this year, after representing HD 56 for nearly two decades, Charles “Doc” Anderson, a Republican, said he would not run for re-election. Then in August he announced he would retire early, leaving the seat empty.

“That necessitated a special election. And what that means to voters is that they will see two races on their ballot,” said Pat Flavin, a political science professor at Baylor University.

After Anderson announced his resignation, Governor Greg Abbott called a special election for District 56 to be held on November 5.

Whoever wins the special election will run in November… for a term that ends nine weeks later.

“Functionally it doesn’t make much of a difference,” Flavin said.

That’s because Texas has a part-time legislature and does not reconvene between Election Day and January, when all other newly elected lawmakers are sworn in.

“It would only be problematic if it was during a session where there was actually a vote,” he said.

Both the District 56 special election and the regular election feature the same two candidates: Republican Pat Curry and Democrat Erin Shank.

Shank says Anderson’s early retirement will be beneficial to whoever wins.

“Whoever is expected to win both elections will be ranked higher,” she said. “We won’t be newbies.”

That’s what Anderson intended. In a statement announcing his resignation, he said those two months of seniority would allow the new district representative to “serve our constituents more effectively.”

This year, there are a larger than usual number of House races in Texas with no incumbent running – more than 30. That means there will be a number of new or freshman representatives in the Texas House of Representatives in 2025. And they will be the lowest in the pecking order.

Shank said that with such a large freshman class, the additional seniority level is significant.

“This helps with committee assignments, floor seating and parking. Parking can be difficult in a very old building, so you might want to put it a little higher on that list,” she said.

Given all of this, Republican candidate Pat Curry says Anderson’s early retirement was the right move for the people of District 56 after Anderson’s nearly 20 years in office.

“It couldn’t have been a better service for Doc to retire,” Curry said. “A newcomer replacing a senior representative with a lot of seniority and experience can set a district back.”

Baylor’s Pat Flavin says this situation is pretty unique. It is very rare for a representative to retire early to ensure seniority for his successor.

“If you just look at recent retirements, that wasn’t the norm. I think it’s a good move by Representative Anderson in that regard,” Flavin said.

But Flavin worries about the precedent this could set.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens more often. And then if it happens more often, there could be a collective bargaining agreement among the retiring representatives that says while we all have more seniority, we can’t all retire early,” Flavin said.

The special election for Texas House District 56 will be held concurrently with the general election. Early voting begins Monday, October 21st and Election Day is November 5th.

If you live in the district, be sure to select a candidate for both races on your ballot.

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