TX-18 runoff aftermath: Houstonians want Menefee, Green to work together

Christian Menefee’s decisive victory against Congressman Al Green in the Democratic primary runoff for Texas’ 18th Congressional District, capturing 71% of the vote, closed one of the more turbulent chapters in Houston’s recent political history. 

For constituents and elected officials, the runoff chose a candidate for the upcoming general election, but the question lingers: What comes next?

Menefee, in his victory speech, thanked Green for his leadership and said he would be open to being mentored by him in the future, although the two men have not yet discussed it.

“I would absolutely be open to it,” Menefee said to the Defender. “To the extent Congressman Green wanted to mentor me, it would be an absolute honor to have his guidance, his advice, and his mentorship moving forward.”

The road to the election

The road to this primary was anything but ordinary. A mid-decade redistricting effort, driven by President Donald Trump’s push for five additional Republican-friendly seats in Texas, led to changes to the Houston-area congressional map, folding large portions of Green’s 9th Congressional District into the newly configured 18th, Menefee’s home base. 

The result was an incumbent-on-incumbent race that pitted two prominent Black Democrats against each other.

Green, 78, had been undefeated in TX-9 since 2004 and ran on seniority and his history of standing against Trump. Menefee, 38, represented a generational shift and ran on addressing systemic changes, building on his work as the former Harris County Attorney.

By the time the runoff concluded, Menefee had won by a margin of more than 43%. But the race left marks, including a divided donor class and two sets of loyalists who now need to find common ground.

Texas’ 18th Congressional District had been in upheaval since the deaths of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and Congressman Sylvester Turner left the seat vacant for roughly eight months. Governor Greg Abbott delayed calling a special election. When he did, Menefee, then Harris County Attorney, won a runoff against Amanda Edwards in early 2025 to claim the unexpired term. The May runoffs were held to decide who would represent the 18th starting January 2027.

Pass the torch, but don’t drop it

The single most consistent theme across interviews with voters was the desire for Green to mentor Menefee.

Houston City Controller Chris Hollins said Green has eight or nine months left in office, and the question is how he uses them.

“Congressman Green has the opportunity in these next eight or nine months to step in and put his arm around Congressman Menefee, to mentor him, to show him everything that he’s learned in these two decades and equip him to carry the torch forward,” Hollins said. “It’s my belief that both of them have the maturity, have the goodwill, concern for this district in mind.”

Project manager Jerrell Samuel echoed that sentiment. He wants Menefee to inherit Green’s network, which he built over decades in office.

“Those relationships, those partnerships that Congressman Green has, especially for the remainder of this term, I think it’d be pivotal to make sure that he [Menefee] is strengthened, developed, and brought into the fold,” Samuel said, pointing to the unusual nature of the race itself as a reason for urgency. “Unfortunately, due to the mid-decade redistricting, we had to choose between two great congressmen. I’d like to not see all that experience and years leave with them.”

Framing the race in generational terms, Aisha Fuller, a UPS worker and Teamsters Local 988 union member, said both Congress members can find common ground amid their differences.

 “You have Menefee with the new school, you have Al with the old school,” she said. “If you put it together, then they can come to a middle ground.” 

For Fuller, the blending of experience and new energy is more of a necessity. Since Menefee has been in Congress for only a matter of months, Fuller believes Green’s institutional knowledge of how Congress works, the “old school ins and outs”, cannot be replicated quickly.

“Family fights”…and then reconciles?

Several interviewees reached for the same metaphor to describe a primary battle ultimately resembling a family fight.

State Representative Lauren Ashley Simmons said it all concluded amicably.

“Primaries are family fights,” Simmons said. “They’re tough. But at the end of the day, we’re all on the same team. Tuesday’s election day, and then Wednesday it’s time for us to unite.” 

She added that, given what she knows about Green, she expects him to “be on the right side of this fight” and to continue his advocacy for the district he spent two decades representing, even as his tenure winds down.

Fights are what primaries are about, Eugene Howard, the Democratic nominee for Brazoria County judgeship, told the Defender. 

“Sometimes families fight. That’s what primaries are about…different ideals,” Howard said. “But once the dust is settled, I believe that Al Green is a man of integrity and he’s going to help Christian in any way possible, with mentorship, guidance, and that tenacious vigor, because we all believe the moment is now to fight for the rights that were taken from us.”

Per Council Member Edward Pollard, both Congressmen share a similar vision for the district.

“Campaigns can get testy just because you’re competing with one another,” he said. “But I believe they both have similar outlooks, similar passion, and they share the same sentiment on similar policy.” 

Pollard added he hopes Green will finish his term on a “high note,” continuing to serve the community and supporting Menefee as the transition unfolds.

Young voices, old problems

A group of Texas Southern University students, Michael Vouffo, Landon Reneau, Pynk Ellzey, and Isaiah Hill, brought a younger perspective to the question. They were broadly optimistic about both the election outcome and the prospect of unity.

Reneau said he believes that outside of campaign dynamics, the two men share enough common ground to work well together. 

“They both fight for the same things, but it was just a matter of them being against each other here,” he said.

Ellzey agreed, noting that from the outside, the campaign had felt more like a community debate than a bitter feud.

“I really have not seen both parties bashing each other. It looks more like a communified thing,” she said, adding that the old school-versus-new school framing might actually be the district’s greatest strength. “That partnership will still be able to collaborate very well and effectively…Sometimes you need to bring two minds together to come to a common goal.”

Vouffo urged Green to invest his experience in preparing Menefee for a long career. 

What constituents want solved first

Beyond the question of the Green-Menefee relationship, constituents were also vocal about the issues they want addressed.

The cost of living dominated the conversation.

Business owner Roger Harris named the economy as the top priority, including gas prices, tariffs, and what he described as the need to roll back elements of the Trump agenda.

Simmons pointed to “kitchen table issues”, such as groceries, rent, and mortgage payments, as what weighs most on people’s minds.

Kaitlyn Menefee, an attorney who ran her husband’s social media campaign, raised maternal health and the disproportionate risks Black women face in childbirth, noting complications she experienced during her own second pregnancy.

“Every woman in this country deserves to have a safe birth, especially Black women,” she said.

While Stassey Wilson, a business owner from Missouri City, raised Medicaid and senior care, Fuller emphasized food access and education, and Samuel mentioned flood mitigation and directing federal dollars to the district. Meanwhile, Vouffo spoke about environmental quality and air pollution in the Third Ward, and Phillip Stewart, a senior director at Houston Methodist, stressed the importance of a unified front as the district continues to navigate the redistricting fallout.