Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) finally met a vote he couldn't table, stall, scold, or impeach. Christian Menefee (D-Texas), the current U.S. representative for Texas's 18th Congressional District, defeated Green in the Democratic primary runoff for the newly redrawn 18th District.
It wasn't even close; Menefee won 68.6% to Green's 31.4%, with 61% of the vote counted when the race was called. For anybody tired of Green's endless impeachment theater against President Donald Trump, the result brought the rare political pleasure of watching voters reach for the hook themselves.
Green has represented parts of the Houston area since 2005, and his long career can't be reduced to one obsession. Still, the obsession became impossible to miss; in December 2025, Green filed H. Rex. 939 to impeach President Donald Trump, accusing him of abuse of power and obstruction. The House voted 237-140 to table the measure, with 47 members voting “present.” From the Texas Tribune:
Green, who has represented the 9th Congressional District since 2005, has been a vocal opponent to President Donald Trump’s policies in Washington and a fixture on the Houston political scene. Green repeatedly and unsuccessfully filed articles of impeachment for Trump during the president’s first and second terms. He was also removed from the State of the Union earlier this year after unfurling a protest sign. He had vowed to continue fighting Trump’s agenda if reelected and leaned on his experience, pitching himself as the candidate has been doing the job.
Green kept treating impeachment like a personal franchise, and eventually even friendlier voters seemed ready to buy from another store.
Menefee didn't suddenly appear; before entering Congress, he served as Harris County attorney, where he built a public profile in local government before winning the January 2026 special election to complete the term of the late Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Texas). From Axios:
State of play: Menefee received 68.6% (21,678 votes), while Green received 31.4% (9,930 votes) with 61% of votes counted, per the Associated Press. The AP called the election in favor of Menefee about 30 minutes after polls closed Tuesday.
- The two were the top vote-getters in the March Democratic primary, but neither won enough support to avoid a runoff.
Catch up quick: Menefee already won a special election earlier this year to fill the seat left vacant by former Rep. Sylvester Turner's death.
- Menefee had to run again to keep the seat for the term starting in 2027.
- Green represented Houston's 9th Congressional District for two decades before running in the 18th after Texas lawmakers redrew his old seat to favor Republicans.
Flashback: The race heated up immediately after the March primary.
Turner, the former Houston mayor, had succeeded the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), whose death in July 2024 opened the first chapter in a strange and crowded political stretch for Houston's 18th District.
Texas redistricting created the political collision; the new map pushed two sitting Democratic members of Congress into the same contest: Menefee in the 18th District and Green from the old 9th District.
Green finished any suspense about where Democratic voters in the new district wanted to go; he had seniority, history, and name recognition. Menefee had momentum, youth, and a cleaner claim on the district's future.
Menefee now faces Ronald Whitfield, the Republican nominee, in November. The district remains heavily Democratic, so Menefee enters the general election as the clear favorite.
Still, Green's loss carries a wider lesson: voters may tolerate political theater for a while, especially when it becomes wrapped in party loyalty, but repetition eventually starts to look less like conviction and more like a habit nobody asked to inherit.
Menefee's victory won't turn Houston conservative, and nobody should pretend otherwise. Yet Green's defeat still lands with a little extra satisfaction because voters didn't need a lecture, a panel discussion, or another cable-news sermon to make the point.
They simply chose a different Democrat. Political accountability sometimes doesn't arrive with thunder; sometimes it shows up quietly, inside a runoff, where a familiar name finally discovers the exit.
Green’s defeat says something larger about political exhaustion and the cost of turning public office into a stage act. PJ Media keeps following these races because the small ones often reveal what the national conversation misses. Join PJ Media VIP and use promo code FIGHT for 60% off.
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