Christian Menefee unseated Al Green in the TX-18 Democratic primary on Tuesday, May 26, 2026.
A newcomer to politics, Menefee defeated longtime Rep. Al Green in the Democratic primary in Texas’ 18th congressional district.
Menefee, 38, was elected to Congress this year after he won a special election to replace Rep. Sylvester Turner, a Democrat who died last year.
Green, 78, decided to run in the deep blue state, Houston-based 18th District after his 9th District was reconfigured.
Both candidates projected themselves as vocal critics of Trump’s policies.
The 20-year incumbent is seeking a 12th term and is considered a critic of President Donald Trump.
Just in March of this year, during the POTUS State of the Union address, he was kicked out of the House chamber for causing a disturbance.
Menefee, who had served as the Harris County attorney, pointed during the campaign to lawsuits his office filed against the Trump administration as evidence.
According to the latest results, including from Harris County, where most of the redrawn 18th District falls, Menefee secured 69.5% of the roughly 24,000 votes cast per precinct. CNN.
The district also includes parts of Brazoria and Fort Bend counties.
The district has seen two sitting representatives pass away in 2024 and 2025, leaving the district vacant for most of the past two years.
First, it became vacant when longtime representative Sheila Jackson Lee died in July 2024, until her daughter, Erica Lee Carter, was sworn in to complete the remainder of her term in November of that year.
Turner took office in January 2025, but died just months later.
The district has a long history of being represented by Black for over five decades, starting in 1973 with Rep. Barbara Jordan, the first Southern black woman elected to the House.
