Gov. Greg Abbott calls Nov. 6 special election for Larry Phillips' state House seat

_{Editor's note: This story has been updated to note that Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Larry Phillips to finish the current term for a district judge post in Grayson County.}

Gov. Greg Abbott has set a Nov. 6 special election to fill former state Rep. Larry Phillips' seat in North Texas. That's the same day voters will head to the polls to cast ballots in statewide, congressional and other state legislative races.

Phillips, a Sherman Republican who chairs the House Insurance Committee, submitted his resignation last week — effective Monday — after previously announcing he would not run for re-election. He is instead running for district judge in Grayson County. (Update, May 1: Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday announced he was appointing Phillips to fill the current, unexpired term for the judicial post.) Phillips won the Republican primary last month and does not have a Democratic opponent in the fall.

Nov. 6 is the date on which Abbott could schedule the special election without deeming it an emergency and slating it earlier as a standalone contest.

The winner of the special election will serve the remainder of Phillips' term, which ends in January. The filing deadline is Aug. 23, and early voting will start Oct. 22.

A race is currently underway to take over the seat for a full term starting next year. Republicans Brent Lawson and Reggie Smith are in a runoff, while Valerie Hefner is the Democratic nominee. 

The district is along the Texas-Oklahoma border and includes Grayson, Fannin and Delta counties.