Reps. Al Green and Christian Menefee will head to a runoff in the Democratic primary for a Texas House seat, NBC News projects, after neither candidate won a majority of the vote in Tuesday’s contest.
After the first round of voting, Menefee led with 46%, compared to 44% for Green. The remaining 10% of the vote was split between two other Democratic candidates.
Republican-led redistricting efforts pitted Menefee, the newest member of the House Democratic caucus, against Green, who is seeking a 12th term in Congress.
Menefee, 37, was sworn in to the House last month after winning a special election to replace the late Rep. Sylvester Turner, a Democrat who died last year. Green, 78, opted 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 gain more seats in Texas in the 2026 midterms.
Both candidates have made standing up to President Donald Trump a key issue in their campaigns. Green has been a vocal opponent of Trump, frequently pushing for his impeachment. Last week, Green was ejected from the House chamber during the president’s State of the Union address.
Menefee, who previously served as the Harris County attorney, pointed to lawsuits his office filed against the Trump administration.
The 18th District has seen two sitting representatives die in 2024 and 2025, leaving it vacant for most of the last two years. Longtime Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s death 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 months later.
The district has had a Black representative for more than 50 years, starting with Barbara Jordan in 1973, who was the first Black woman from the South elected to the House.
