Democratic Reps. Al Green and Christian Menefee head to a runoff in Texas primary
Reps. Al Green and Christian Menefee will head to a runoff in the Democratic primary for a seat in the Texas House, NBC News projects, after neither candidate won a majority of votes in Tuesday’s vote.
After the first round of voting, Menefee came in first with 46%, compared to 44% for the Greens. The remaining 10% of the vote was split between two other Democratic candidates.
The Republican-led redistricting effort has pitted Menefee, the newest member of the House Democratic caucus, against Green, who is seeking a 12th term in Congress.
Menefee, 37, was sworn into the House last month after winning a special election to replace the late Rep. Sylvester Turner, a Democrat who died last year. Green, 78, chose to run in the deep blue, Houston-based 18th District after his 9th District was redrawn to make it more heavily Republican, part of a GOP plan to win more seats in Texas in the 2026 midterms.
Both candidates have made resistance to President Donald Trump a key campaign issue. Green has been a vocal opponent of Trump, frequently pushing for his impeachment. Last week, Green was kicked out of the House of Representatives during the president’s State of the Union address.
Menefee, who previously served as Harris County district attorney, highlighted lawsuits his office has filed against the Trump administration.
The 18th District saw two sitting representatives die in 2024 and 2025, leaving it vacant for most of the past two years. The death of longtime Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in July 2024 left it empty until her daughter Erica Lee Carter was sworn in to complete the remainder of her term in November of that year. Turner then took office in January 2025, but died a few months later.
The district has had a black representative for more than 50 years, starting with Barbara Jordan in 1973, who was the South’s first black woman elected to the House.
