Discovery Insights Elections Candidates Calendar Watchlist

Democrat

Jolanda Jones

Democrat

Jolanda Jones

Who will win the Special Election for TX-18?

$127.3K

NOV 4, 2026

Candidate standings

Live market pricing for the leading candidates in this election.

2 more

Overview

Current roleState Representative

PartyDemocratic

Political ideologyProgressive Democrat

Age60 years old (Nov 6, 1965)

GenderFemale

LocationTexas

BackgroundAttorney

EducationUniversity of Houston — B.A., Political Science

Notable personal detailsJolanda Felicia Jones is an American attorney and Democratic politician who has served as a member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 147 since 2022. She previously served in Houston municipal government, including as a Houston City Council member and a Houston ISD trustee. She earned a B.A. in political science from the University of Houston and a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center. She was a candidate in Texas’s 18th congressional district special election held on November 4, 2025.

SourcesShow

house.texas.gov capitol.texas.gov en.wikipedia.org wikidata.org fec.gov txroundtable.com uh.edu lgbtequalitypac.org txelectionresults.com houstonchronicle.com click2houston.com pbs.org defendernetwork.com texastribune.org houstontx.gov jolandajones.com communityimpact.com directory.texastribune.org journals.house.texas.gov choicetracker.org ksat.com teachthevote.atpe.org ballotready.org index.texastaxpayers.com houstonrepublic.com govsalaries.com legiscan.com i-45coalition.org chron.com stoptxdoti45.com developer.ballotpedia.org voterguide.ballotpedia.org legislation.ballotpedia.org cdn.ballotpedia.org house.gov docquery.fec.gov govinfo.gov menefee.house.gov

Positions

LiberalConservative

Economy & Taxes

Supports expanding social and economic programs (e.g., Medicaid expansion, raising the minimum wage) and emphasizes strengthening funding for public services and economic development for small and minority‑owned businesses rather than tax cuts. No explicit campaign statements advocating major tax cuts or large-scale tax reductions were found.

Healthcare

Supports expanding access to affordable health care, protecting and expanding Medicaid (including coverage extensions for new mothers and babies), lowering prescription drug costs, and preserving reproductive health care access. Opposes cuts to Medicaid and aims to expand healthcare coverage and affordability.

Immigration & Border

The candidate opposes criminalizing migrants for illegal border crossings and criticized legislation that would increase state-level penalties and enforcement against people from the southern border, describing such measures as racially discriminatory. Her public statements emphasize protecting migrants from punitive state policies and defending immigration as part of the nation’s founding.

Abortion & Reproductive Rights

Supports codifying and restoring abortion rights and opposes politicians restricting access to abortion; describes herself as a champion for abortion care and women’s reproductive decision-making.

Climate & Energy

No clear policy positions on climate or energy are articulated in the candidate’s campaign or official biography; her campaign emphasizes infrastructure and resilient communities and criticizes Republican handling of power outages but does not set out specific climate targets, fossil-fuel or clean-energy policies. Available public materials focus on health care, education, public safety and economic development rather than detailed climate or energy policy.

Public Safety & Guns

Supports comprehensive gun-safety reforms including measures such as red flag laws, raising the purchase age for assault-style rifles, closing the gun-show loophole, and local gun buyback programs to reduce firearms in communities. She frames these policies as necessary responses to rising gun violence and opposes recent permissive Texas carry laws.

Polls

Who will win the Special Election for TX-18?

Polling Average

50%40%30%20%10%0%

26%

44%

43%

J. Jones

A. Edwards

C. Menefee

Date (Start - End)	Spread	Jones	Edwards	Menefee
Polling Average	Edwards+18.0	26.0%	44.0%	43.0%
University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs/YouGovOct 7 - 11	Edwards+18.0	26.0%	44.0%	–
University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs/YouGovOct 7 - 11	Menefee+17.0	26.0%	–	43.0%

Aggregation source: FiftyPlusOne

Fundraising

Latest report: Cycle 2026

Total raisedCash on hand

$404.2K

$303.1K

$202.1K

$101.0K

2026

Latest

Year

Total raised

Cash on hand

Total spent

Burn rate

Cycle 2026

$404.2K

$0.00

$404.2K

$36.7K

Cycle 2026

$404.2K

$0.00

$404.2K

$36.7K

Source: FEC

New updates coming soon

We're monitoring and will update when new data impacts the race.

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