HOUSTON (CN) - Former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards has ended her campaign for the next full term for Texas' 18th Congressional District, bringing the field for the upcoming Democratic primary down to just two candidates.

Monday's announcement marks the latest development in three tumultuous years for the 18th Congressional District, which covers much of downtown Houston and the nearby Third and Fifth Wards. The deaths in office of both previous incumbents, 30-year veteran congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, left the district without a representative for 13 months, while elections every year only provided short-term fixes.

Christian Menefee, the former Harris County attorney, defeated Edwards in the Jan. 31 runoff election by a more than 2-to-1 margin, earning 18,600 of a total of 27,000 votes. That victory, which sent him to Congress for the remainder of the year, would give him a significant edge in the March primary for the next full term.

Edwards' exit from the race leaves Menefee, now the incumbent for the district, to face 10-term congressman Al Green, a prominent progressive who was redistricted out of his longtime seat in the 9th District by the Texas legislature's redrawn maps late last year.

"Thank you all for your steadfast support for my campaign for Congress," Edwards wrote in a statement posted to her Facebook page on Monday. "Although my name will appear on the March 2026 primary ballot, I have decided to suspend my campaign for Congress."

"My commitment to serving and advocating for the community remains unchanged," she continued. "I cannot thank you enough for working with me to elevate people over politics and to deliver results for our community."

Edwards ended her statement by announcing her next project: "As we all know, too much is at stake to disengage from the fight for health care, economic stability and our democracy. That is why I hope you will join me as I relaunch our Do Something Houston Voter Registration Initiative, so we can win the midterm elections and deliver for our community again."

Edwards' announcement comes less than two weeks before the start of early voting in the primary, hence why her name will remain on the ballot.

Neither Menefee nor Green has responded to requests for comment at this time.

Source: Courthouse News Service