Rep. Al Green, the Texas Democrat who has made a second career out of trying to impeach President Donald Trump, failed to clear the 50% threshold in his bid to hold onto a congressional seat and now faces a runoff against a fellow Democrat.
Green and Rep. Christian Menefee will square off on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, after neither secured a majority in the race for Texas's 18th Congressional District. The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Menefee pulled 46% of the vote to Green's 44.2%.
That means the man who has spent more time grandstanding against a sitting president than legislating for his own constituents now has to fight just to keep his job. And he's losing.
Green has served in Congress since 2005, originally representing Texas's 9th Congressional District. His tenure has been marked less by legislative accomplishment than by a singular, almost liturgical devotion to removing Donald Trump from office.
His impeachment push in November was described by Fox News as his fifth attempt to bring charges against the president. Five times. Green told local reporters at the time:
"We have to participate. This is a participatory democracy. The impeachment requires the hands and the guidance of all of us."
What that "guidance" has produced, in practical terms, is nothing. No successful impeachment. No coalition built. No legislation of consequence riding on the effort. Just a congressman who turned himself into a one-man protest movement while voters in his district waited for someone to address their actual concerns.
Green's flair for the dramatic extends well beyond impeachment resolutions. At the 2026 State of the Union, he brought a sign reading "black people aren't apes" into the chamber and was removed. The year before, at Trump's joint address to Congress on March 4, 2025, Green refused to be seated and waved his cane at the president until security escorted him out.
"I am not moving."
Voters, apparently, are.
Green isn't even running in his original district. Redistricting changes advanced by Republicans reportedly look to eliminate as many as five Democrat-held seats in Texas, and Green's 9th District was among the casualties. Rather than retire, he announced he would pursue reelection in the 18th Congressional District.
"So, I announce I will be running for the permanent seat."
The problem: he's not the only Democrat who wanted it. Menefee, a former Harris County Attorney, won a January special election to fill the seat after Rep. Sylvester Turner died in office last March at age 70. Menefee had announced his own candidacy for the district before Texas had even completed its redistricting plans, staking his claim early.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus Political Action Committee endorsed Menefee in 2025. A post on his website last March framed his decision in revealing terms, noting that he had been mentioned as a potential statewide candidate but chose Congress instead because "the prospects for breaking the Republican hold on state politics in Texas appeared dim for Democrats in the short term."
That's a remarkable concession from a Democrat. Texas isn't turning blue, and even their own candidates know it. The honest play, at least for Menefee, was to grab a safe House seat while one was available.
What voters in the 18th District are choosing between tells you everything about where the Democratic Party stands in 2026. On one side: a 20-year incumbent whose national profile rests entirely on performative opposition to Trump, culminating in repeated ejections from the House chamber. On the other: a progressive-backed newcomer who openly admits his party can't compete statewide in Texas.
Neither candidate is offering a vision. Green offers spectacle. Menefee offers managed decline.
Under Texas law, if no candidate captures a majority of the vote, the race heads to a runoff. That runoff is now set for May 26. In a solidly blue district, the winner will almost certainly head back to Congress.
The question isn't really who wins. It's what either victory would mean. Green has spent two decades in the House and is best known for waving a cane at the president. Menefee arrived months ago through a special election and already outpaced him at the ballot box. One represents a Democratic Party that mistakes disruption for resistance. The other represents a party that has stopped pretending it can win the fights that matter.
The 18th District will make its choice. The rest of the country already has.
