Texas redistricting claimed a longtime Democratic incumbent Tuesday, as Rep. Christian Menefee defeated Rep. Al Green in a Houston-area runoff that forced two sitting House Democrats into the same race.
Rep. Al Green, one of Congress’ most vocal Trump antagonists, lost his Democratic runoff Tuesday to fellow Texas Rep. Christian Menefee after redistricting scrambled Houston-area congressional lines.
The race for Texas’ solidly Democratic 18th Congressional District was an incumbent-on-incumbent Democratic clash, with Green and Menefee both trying to preserve their places in Congress after redistricting altered the congressional districts around Houston.
In Texas, it is mandated by law that if no candidate has captured a majority of the vote during a primary, the race will head to a runoff election. Menefee received 46% of votes and Green 44.2% following the early-March primary.
Green has been among President Donald Trump’s fiercest critics in Congress, pursuing impeachment charges on multiple occasions against him during both of Trump’s terms. Green has been kicked out of Trump’s State of the Union addresses multiple times as well for standing up and protesting amid the speech.
Following the close March primary, Fox News Digital caught up with Green on Capitol Hill, during which the longtime congressman cited $1.5 million in spending against his campaign by the crypto-industry as a major driver behind the closeness of his race.
At the same time, Green slammed Menefee, over his alleged lack of experience and failure to show up for votes early in his congressional career following his tenure as an attorney.
Meneffee is a fresher face in Washington who ran on bringing a new face to Congress to combat Trump and Republicans.
“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.
Menefee will take on Republican Ronald Whitfield in the November general election, though Menefee is strongly favored in the heavily-Democratic Houston-area district.
