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Democratic U.S. Rep. Christian Menefee defeated U.S. Rep. Al Green to represent a newly drawn congressional district that encompasses both of their current Houston-area districts, effectively ending the tenure of one of the state’s longest-serving congressmen and a veteran Democrat in Washington.
Green, who has represented the 9th Congressional District since 2005, has been a vocal opponent to President Donald Trump’s policies in Washington and a fixture on the Houston political scene. Green repeatedly and unsuccessfully filed articles of impeachment for Trump during the president’s first and second terms. He was also removed from the State of the Union earlier this year after unfurling a protest sign. He had vowed to continue fighting Trump’s agenda if reelected and leaned on his experience, pitching himself as the candidate has been doing the job.
Menefee will face the GOP nominee Ronald Dwayne Whitfield. Whitfield faces an uphill battle as the district is deep blue; Kamala Harris would have carried the new district by 55 points.
“Tonight belongs to the people of this district,” Menefee said in a statement. “You have shown up over and over, and every single time, you have chosen to fight for a better future for our communities. I do not take that for granted for one second. This is your victory, and I will spend every day in Washington making sure it means something.”
Menefee is an attorney by trade who in 2020 became the youngest ever and first Black Harris County attorney. In January, Menefee won a special election to finish the term of Rep. Sylvester Turner, who died in March 2025.
With little policy misalignment between the two congressmen, the runoff contest for the 18th Congressional District centered on stylistic differences between Menefee, the newest member of Texas’ delegation, and Green, amid a broader conversation about age and politics.
Green, 78, and Menefee, 38, advanced to the runoff election after neither cleared the 50% threshold in the March primary, in which Menefee received more votes. Tuesday’s election marked the fourth in seven months for voters in the district.
Texas Republicans forced the rare incumbent against incumbent clash when they drew a chunk of Green’s voters out of his 9th Congressional District in a mid-decade redistricting effort last summer to gerrymander the state’s congressional map for more GOP gains.
Green has represented his district, and parts of the region, for more than two decades since he defeated an incumbent in 2004, also following a redistricting that created the majority Latino and Black district.
The new district has more voters from Green’s previous boundaries. Still, Menefee led Green in some polls leading up to the election, especially with voters younger than 55.
Among the few differences in policy between the two is over cryptocurrency. Green has emerged as a skeptic while Menefee has embraced the industry as it invested in his congressional bid.
by Alejandro Serrano, The Texas Tribune
This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.
