Representatives Al Green and Christian Menefee will go into a runoff in the Democratic primary for a Texas House seat, NBC News projects, with neither candidate garnering the most votes in Tuesday’s contest.
After the first round of voting, Menefee led with 46% compared to Green’s 44%. The remaining 10% of the vote was split between two other Democratic candidates.
Republican-led redistricting efforts pit Menefee, a new member of the House Democratic caucus, against Green, who is seeking a 12th term in Congress.
Menefee, 37, was sworn into the House last month after winning a special election to replace the late Rep. Sylvester Turner, a Democrat who died last year. Green, 78, chose to run in the deep-blue, Houston-based 18th District after redistricting his 9th District to make it more Republican, part of a GOP plan to pick up more seats in Texas in the 2026 midterms.
Both candidates have made standing up for President Donald Trump a key issue in their campaigns. Green has been a staunch opponent of Trump, often calling for his impeachment. Last week, Greene was kicked out of the House chamber during the president’s State of the Union address.
Menefee, who previously served as Harris County’s attorney, pointed to lawsuits his office has filed against the Trump administration.
The 18th District has been vacant for the past two years, with two incumbents dying in 2024 and 2025. The death of longtime Representative Sheila Jackson Lee in July 2024 left the seat vacant until her daughter Erica Lee Carter was sworn in to complete the remainder of her term in November of that year. Turner then took over in January 2025, but died months later.
The district held a black representative for more than 50 years, beginning with Barbara Jordan in 1973, the first black woman elected to the House from the South.
