U.S. Reps. Al Green and Christian Menefee are headed for a Democratic primary runoff in May, setting up a fourth election in about seven months for voters in Houston’s 18th Congressional District.
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The primary was a rare incumbent-on-incumbent clash forced by legislative Republicans who redrew the Texas congressional map last summer to create five new seats that are more favorable to Republicans. Green was drawn out of his district, the 9th Congressional District, and into the new 18th District.
Menefee noted his first-place finish but acknowledged Wednesday morning that neither candidate crossed the threshold for an outright win, blaming Republican “gerrymandered” maps for sowing confusion among voters.
“I didn’t ask for these new maps, Congressman Green didn’t ask for this, and the voters of this district certainly didn’t ask for this,” Menefee said in a statement. “But I want to be clear about one thing: we are not going to let Donald Trump and Greg Abbott use this gerrymandering scheme as a distraction from the real issues facing the people of this country. The 18th Congressional District has shown loud and clear that they want a fighter who can deliver real results, and I’m focused on continuing to deliver that.”
The May runoff will be fourth election in the 18th Congressional District in seven months. With the U.S. Senate Democratic primary already settled, turnout is likely to be low, and the outcome could depend on who can get their supporters to return the polls. Menefee overperformed in the Harris County portion of the district, particularly among early voters, while Green dominated in Fort Bend County.
In an interview Wednesday morning, Green said he knew the race would end in a runoff and planned to continue emphasizing his congressional record — which, given his 21-year head start, is much longer than Menefee’s.
“I am running on what I have done,” Green said. “He is running on what he will do.”
In a speech Tuesday night before the runoff had been called, Menefee, who had run a positive campaign thus far, had some sharp words for Green.
“Al Green, you can tear us down, but I’m going to build us up,” Menefee said. “I’m focused on taking this district to the future. And I will not lose my integrity for no damn elected office!”
Wednesday morning, Green shot back with some “truthful trash” talk. Menefee, Green said, had pledged to be the voice that voters in the 18th District had missed while the seat sat vacant for nearly a year. But he pointed out that Menefee, who was campaigning in Houston, missed House votes last Tuesday and Wednesday, while Green was in Washington.
“[Menefee’s said] you’re going to vote for them, and you’re going to be energetic, and you’ve got the stamina, ” Green said. “Well, you’ve got to have the stamina to come to work in Washington, DC. This is where we vote.”
Green also called for a debate between the two to “talk trash to each other face to face.”
In a statement Thursday, Menefee said that he had spent the month since his swearing-in casting votes, hiring staff and meeting with residents. And he argued that his record as Harris County attorney proves he has delivered results on issues including health care and voting rights.
“Congressman Green going negative is exactly what Donald Trump and Greg Abbott envisioned when they redrew these maps to force two Black Democratic leaders into the same district,” Menefee said. “They wanted to strip our communities of real representation and hand the seat to Republicans, all while a 20-year member of Congress attacks a member on the same team who just stepped foot in the door. We shouldn’t fall for that trap.”
While both men are incumbents for the district, Green has represented the area for more than two decades. Menefee, who was elected to fill out the late Rep. Sylvester Turner’s term in a January special runoff, has only been in Congress for a month.
The new district also contains far more voters from Green’s old district than Menefee’s. But Menefee has been running for office for nearly a year and had a robust campaign operation that pivoted quickly to the primary in the new district after the November special election and January runoff in his current district.
Green defeated an incumbent Democrat in 2004 after a different episode of mid-decade redistricting transformed a majority-white Houston Democratic seat into a district with a Black and Latino majority. He has since faced scant electoral competition in his nearly 22 years in office.
The 37-year-old Menefee finished first in the November special election to replace Turner, who died in March 2025. He handily defeated former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards in the January runoff and was sworn into office in early February. He previously served as Harris County attorney from 2021 through 2025.
Edwards was also on Tuesday’s ballot but had dropped out of the race after losing the runoff.
Green, 78, was first elected to Congress in 2004, defeating then-Rep. Chris Bell, who is white, in a Democratic primary after a previous round of mid-decade redistricting by Republicans made the previously majority-white seat into a district with large Black and Latino populations.
Since then, Green operated in the House with little to no electoral competition — until Republicans significantly redrew his seat last summer to favor the GOP. Green and the majority of his constituents were drawn into a new version of the 18th Congressional District, a bastion of Black political power in the state. The district, which has been represented by titans of Houston politics, including Barbara Jordan and Sheila Jackson Lee, is majority Black and includes Third Ward, Sunnyside and Missouri City.