Reps. Al Green and Christian Menefee to advance to runoff for Texas 18th, CNN projects

By Molly English, CNN

(CNN) — Reps. Al Green and Christian Menefee will head to a Democratic primary runoff for Texas’ redrawn 18th District, according to a projection from CNN’s Decision Desk.

Neither Green nor Menefee got more than 50% of the vote required to win outright on Tuesday. The runoff between Green and Menefee will be on May 26.

The 18th District, in the Houston area, was without consistent representation until about 30 days ago, when Menefee won a special election runoff to replace former Rep. Sylvester Turner, who died in office last year just over two months into his term. The runoff election occurred under the previous district lines.

Green has represented some iteration of the 9th District since 2005. He decided to switch districts after his home and most of his current constituents were redrawn into the 18th under Texas’ new congressional map after mid-decade redistricting.

Green is well-known for his fiery pushback against President Donald Trump, sometimes drawing criticism from his own party. At last week’s State of the Union, he was escorted out just minutes after the speech began for holding a sign reading “Black people aren’t apes!” That was the second year in a row the congressman was removed from the chamber for disrupting the speech, with Republicans and 10 Democrats later voting to censure him.

Menefee is the former Harris County attorney.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas state House Republicans kicked off what ended up being the first domino in a nationwide mid-decade redistricting effort in August of last year. Abbott eventually signed into law a new map that aimed to give Republicans at least five more House seats in 2026. The 18th District was made even more Democratic and absorbed much of the current 9th District, which became Republican leaning.

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