An emergency election will be held Saturday, June 30, to find a temporary replacement for resigned Congressman Blake Farenthold, who represented Texas’s District 27. Candidates interested in completing the last five months of the term have until 5 p.m. Friday, April 27, — only three days from the time the election was called — to file for a place on the ballot with the Secretary of State.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called the emergency special election after receiving a ruling from state Attorney General Ken Paxton that District 27 met the necessary criteria. District 27 runs from the Gulf Coast to Central Texas and has been represented by Farenthold since 2010. He then wrote a letter to the former congressman demanding that he pay the cost of the emergency election. 
"On behalf of voters in the 27th Congressional District and as Governor of the State of Texas, I am writing to demand that you cover all costs for the called special election to fill the seat now vacated following your resignation," wrote the Governor. "While you have publicly offered to reimburse the $84,000 in taxpayer funds you wrongly used to settle a sexual harassment claim, there is no legal recourse requiring to give that money back to Congress." 
A runoff election has been set for Sept. 28, if necessary. Ballots subject to the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act must be transmitted no later than 5 p.m. May 16. Ballots not subject to that act shall be mailed to voters no later than 5 p.m. May 31.
Early voting begins June 13 and ends June 26.
Abbott called for the election via a proclamation issued April 24. He cited the U.S. Constitution and Texas Election Code in determining the need for an emergency election. Hurricane Harvey was also cited as a reason for the election. All of the counties in the district are under the governor’s disaster declaration related to devastation from the hurricane.
“Whereas, hurricane relief efforts depend heavily on action at the federal level, which necessitates that those people residing in the disaster zone have full and effective representation in Congress as soon as possible; and
“Whereas, a prolonged vacancy in Congressional District 27 will prevent, hinder or delay necessary action in coping with the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey; NOW, THEREFORE, I, GREG ABBOTT, Governor of Texas … do hereby order an emergency special election to be held in District 27, on Saturday, June 30, 2018 …” reads the proclamation.
The winner of the emergency election will serve until Jan. 6, when the 116th Congress will be sworn in. Candidates in this election may also be on the ballot in the upcoming mid-term election Nov. 6.
Candidates now running to represent District 27 in the mid-term election are Republicans Bech Brunn and Michael Cloud and Democrats Eric Holguin and Raul “Roy” Barrera.  Which two candidates will face each other Nov. 6 will be decided in a runoff election May 22.
In other words, voters in District 27 will have three — possibly four in the case of an emergency runoff — opportunities to vote for a new congressman.
The seat became available when Farenthold announced he would not run for re-election to his fifth term in December of last year. He officially resigned as of April 6 after learning an investigation by the House Ethics Committee had been completed and was about to be made public. The Ethics Committee said its decision would not be favorable to Farenthold, who was being investigated on sexual harassment charges and forcing federal employees in his offices to work on his campaign. The Ethics Committee has no jurisdiction now that Farenthold has left the House of Representatives.
Meanwhile, the district lines are under scrutiny by the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard arguments in the case of Abbott vs Perez on the same day the emergency election proclamation was issued, April 24.