Menefee, Green Head to May 26 Democratic Runoff in Redrawn TX-18

U.S. Reps. Christian Menefee and Al Green are headed to a May 26 Democratic runoff in Houston’s newly redrawn 18th Congressional District after neither secured a majority in the March 3 primary, with Menefee reported at about 46% and Green at about 44% while two other Democratic candidates split roughly 10% of the vote. The Associated Press projected the runoff and listed the May 26 date as the next step in the contest.

The matchup is an incumbent-on-incumbent fight resulting from Republican-led redistricting last summer that created five seats seen as more favorable to Republicans and moved Green out of the old 9th into the new 18th, a map change that Texas Tribune reporting says leaves far more voters in the new 18th from Green’s prior district than from Menefee’s. Voters in the 18th have faced a string of contests: the primary will be followed by the May runoff, and Texas Tribune framed the runoff as potentially the fourth election in about seven months for residents in the district.

Menefee, 37, has been in Congress only briefly after winning a January special runoff to fill the late Rep. Sylvester Turner’s term and being sworn in in February; outlets reported he had been running for office for nearly a year and pivoted a robust campaign operation quickly into the March primary. Menefee has cast the race as generational change and as a record of taking on Donald Trump’s policies through litigation while serving as Harris County attorney. He told The New York Times, “Folks are ready to shake cages, to rattle tables and to really bring a new energy to the fight in the Democratic Party,” and told NBC News his closing argument was that he is “the only candidate who has fought back against Donald Trump and actually won,” referencing lawsuits his office pursued.

Green, 78, is a long-tenured member of Congress who has served since 2005 and was reported to have chosen to run in the deep-blue Houston-based 18th after his old 9th District was redrawn. NBC noted Green’s history of high-profile activism in opposition to Trump, including repeated calls for impeachment, and reported he was escorted out of the president’s State of the Union after holding up a sign that read, “Black people aren’t apes,” an incident described as the second year in a row he was removed from the address.

NBC’s early vote totals and AP’s projection set the stage for a May decision in a district that has seen recent turnover: NBC reported the 18th had two sitting representatives die in 2024 and 2025, contributing to recent vacancy and turnover, and noted the district has been represented by Black members since Barbara Jordan in 1973. The outcome of the May 26 runoff will determine which incumbent represents Houston’s reconfigured 18th and, as AP observed, will be read as a signal about whether Democratic voters are ready to pass the baton to a younger generation.