Freshman Rep. Christian Menefee defeated longtime Rep. Al Green in the Democratic primary runoff for Texas’ 18th Congressional District, NBC News projects, after a rare incumbent-on-incumbent matchup sparked by Republican-led redistricting efforts.
The redraw of the state’s political map pitted one of the newest members of the House Democratic caucus against one of the longer-serving incumbents in the chamber. Menefee got 46% of the primary vote to Green’s 44% in the first round on March 3, pushing the race to a runoff since neither got majority support.
Menefee, 38, was sworn in to Congress earlier in 2026 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, a key part of the GOP plan to gain more seats in Texas in 2026.
Menefee also benefited from more than $5 million in outside spending from a super PAC aligned with cryptocurrency industry leaders, Protect Progress. Outgoing Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who unsuccessfully ran for the Senate this year, appeared in one of the group’s ads supporting Menefee. Green has harshly criticized the flood of megadonor money, while Menefee has said he thinks campaign finance laws should be changed to ban super PACs.
78 is too old, but young crypto tools aren’t really moving in the right direction.
No hand will go unstained as long as Citizens United stands.
87% of senate elections are won by the candidate that spent more money and it’s 92% for the house.
Money obviously isn’t the only factor but it’s a big one
That’s too bad. Al has been vocal against Trump from day 1.
He’s not perfect. But at least he stood up to the insanity.
