House Democrat who has repeatedly tried to impeach Trump heads to runoff election amid tight primary
Eleven-term Veteran Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, and newly minted Rep. Christian Menefee, D-Texas, will face off again after neither Democrat captured over 50% of the vote on Tuesday evening in their bids to represent Texas' 18th Congressional District.
Under Texas law, if no candidate has captured a majority of the vote, the race will head to a runoff election. On Wednesday, the Associated Press reported that Menefee received 46% of votes and Green 44.2%.
Green has served in Congress since 2005, representing the Lone Star State’s 9th Congressional District. This year, because of redistricting changes advanced by Republicans, Green announced he would pursue reelection in the state’s 18th Congressional District, putting him on a collision course with Menefee.
Menefee won election to the House of Representatives in a January special election to fill the seat of Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Texas.
Turner, 70, died in office last March.
Green has drawn national attention in recent years for pursuing impeachment charges against President Donald Trump.
Most recently, Green led an impeachment push against Trump in November — his fifth attempt to bring charges against the president. Green has framed his impeachment efforts as a litmus test for his own party, forcing members to vote on their position of whether Trump had committed "high crimes or misdemeanors," the bar set for removal from office.
"We have to participate. This is a participatory democracy. The impeachment requires the hands and the guidance of all of us," Green said at the time.
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Green also made news in Trump’s last two joint addresses to Congress. After bringing a sign emblazoned with the phrase "black people aren’t apes" to the 2026 State of the Union, Green found himself removed from the chamber — a repeat of similar events in 2025. Then, Green refused to be seated and waved his cane at Trump until security removed him from the room.
Amid redistricting changes that look to eliminate as many as five Democrat-held seats, Green said he would continue to try to represent the area he had served since his arrival to the House of Representatives.
"I am not moving," Green told local reporters in November. "So, I announce I will be running for the permanent seat."
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Menefee announced his own candidacy for the district before Texas had completed its redistricting plans. He framed his campaign as a way to secure Democratic interests.
"A former commercial litigation lawyer from a military family, Mr. Menefee had been mentioned as a potential statewide candidate. His decision to run for Congress instead underscored what many Democrats have acknowledged: that the prospects for breaking the Republican hold on state politics in Texas appeared dim for Democrats in the short term," Menefee said in a post to his website last March.
Per state law, Meneffee and Green will now face off on Tuesday, May 26, 2026.