Texas' 18th Congressional District election, 2026 (May 26 Democratic primary runoff)

	← 2024
Texas' 18th Congressional District
	Democratic primary; Democratic primary runoff; Republican primary; General election
Election details
	Filing deadline: December 8, 2025
	Primary: March 3, 2026; Primary runoff: May 26, 2026; General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
	Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Voting in Texas
Race ratings
	Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic; DDHQ and The Hill: Pending; Inside Elections: Solid Democratic; Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
	U.S. Senate battlegrounds; U.S. House battlegrounds; Federal and state primary competitiveness; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
See also
	Texas' 18th Congressional District; U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th • 11th • 12th • 13th • 14th • 15th • 16th • 17th • 18th • 19th • 20th • 21st • 22nd • 23rd • 24th • 25th • 26th • 27th • 28th • 29th • 30th • 31st • 32nd • 33rd • 34th • 35th • 36th • 37th • 38th; Texas elections, 2026; U.S. Congress elections, 2026; U.S. Senate elections, 2026; U.S. House elections, 2026; Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House raceArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House raceFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House raceOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House raceTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House raceVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House raceSubmit

Texas 2026 elections

U.S. Senate • U.S. House • Governor • Lt. Gov • Attorney General • State executive offices • State Senate • State House • Special state legislative • Supreme court • Appellate courts • School boards • Municipal • All local elections by county • How to run for office

Texas redrew its congressional district boundaries in August 2025. Voters will elect representatives under the new map in 2026. Click here to read more about mid-decade redistricting ahead of the 2026 elections.

Incumbent Reps. Al Green (D) and Christian Menefee (D) are running in the Democratic primary runoff for Texas' 18th Congressional District on May 26, 2026. Menefee and Green were the top two finishers in the March 3 primary with 46.0% and 44.2% of the vote, respectively. They advanced because neither received more than 50% of the vote.

The primary is taking place in the context of redistricting in Texas ahead of the 2026 elections. In 2024, Green won election in the 9th District. Redistricting in 2025 made the 9th more Republican, and also shifted Green's home to the new 18th District. Sylvester Turner (D) was elected to represent the 18th District in 2024. Turner died in March 2025. Menefee won the January 31 special runoff election for the remainder of Turner's term.

The special election took place in the 2024 version of the 18th District. The Texas Tribune's Gabby Birenbaum said the new 18th District "contains far more voters from Green’s old district than Menefee’s. But Menefee has been running for office for nearly a year and had a robust campaign operation that pivoted quickly to the primary in the new district after the November special election and January runoff in his current district."^[1]

As of March 2026, this race is projected to be one of two incumbent-versus-incumbent U.S. House elections in 2026. The Hill's Julia Mueller and Caroline Vakil said, "age and generational change has become a focal point in the race, particularly in Texas, where two senior Democrats — Turner and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee — died in the last few years."^[2]

Green was first elected to the House in 2004. Green worked as an attorney in private practice and served as president of the Houston branch of the NAACP.^[3] Green is running on his record: "You know that I will stand up to Donald Trump because you saw me do it...You know that I will fight for your health care because you’ve seen me do it. You know that I believe in raising the minimum wage to $25 an hour, because you’ve heard me say it."^[4]

Menefee was elected to represent the 18th District in a January 31 special election and previously served as Harris County Attorney. Menefee says he is running "because working people deserve a government that has their back...Christian has spent his career fighting back against bullies, and he’s ready to do it in Washington."^[5]

As of March 2026, major election forecasters rated the general election Solid/Safe Democratic.

This page focuses on Texas' 18th Congressional District Democratic primary runoff. For more in-depth information on the district's primaries and the general election, see the following pages:

Candidates and election results

Democratic primary runoff election

Democratic primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 18

Incumbent Al Green and incumbent Christian Menefee are running in the Democratic primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 18 on May 26, 2026.

		Candidate
		Al Green
		Christian Menefee

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Texas

Election information in Texas: May 26, 2026, election.

What is the voter registration deadline?

In-person: April 27, 2026
By mail: Postmarked by April 27, 2026
Online: N/A

Is absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

No

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

In-person: May 15, 2026
By mail: Received by May 15, 2026
Online: N/A

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

In-person: May 26, 2026
By mail: Postmarked by May 26, 2026

Is early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What are the early voting start and end dates?

May 18, 2026 to May 22, 2026

Are all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, is a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When are polls open on Election Day?

7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. (CT/MT)

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Al Green

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: Yes

Political Office:

U.S. House Texas District 9 (Assumed office: 2005)
Harris County Justice of the Peace (1977–2004)

Biography: Green obtained a law degree from Texas Southern University. Green co-founded the law firm of Green, Wilson, Dewberry, and Fitch. Before his election to Congress, Green served as president of the Houston branch of the NAACP.

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Green's campaign website said his "impeccable character has gained him the respect of his colleagues, community leaders, and people of diverse backgrounds as he continues to bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice."

Green said he had a record of standing up for his values, referencing his censure after disrupting President Trump's 2025 Joint Address to Congress. Green's campaign website said his "statement brought national attention to his fight to safeguard Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security."

Green said his policy priorities included measures he said would protect immigrants, preserve civil rights for LGBT Americans, and reduce restrictions on abortion.

Show sources

Sources: Al Green campaign website, "Meet Al Green," accessed January 14, 2026; Al Green campaign website, "Issues," accessed January 14, 2026; Al Green campaign website, "Meet Al Green," accessed January 14, 2026; Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, "GREEN, Al," accessed January 14, 2026

Christian Menefee

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: Yes

Political Office:

U.S. House of Representatives Texas District 18 (Assumed office: 2026)
Harris County District Attorney (2021–2026)

Biography: Menefee graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio and obtained his law degree from Washington University in St. Louis. Before seeking elected office, Menefee practiced law as a commercial litigator and with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Menefee's campaign website said he was running for Congress "because working people deserve a government that has their back. Trump and his allies are making life harder for everyday Americans—rolling back voting rights, attacking reproductive freedom, and rigging the economy for billionaires."

Menefee said he had a record of delivering results, with his campaign website saying he "has been engaged in the national legal fight against Trump—challenging his administration’s efforts to cut funding for life-saving medical research and deny birthright citizenship to immigrant families."

Menefee said he had grown up in the district and was "shaped by Houston's public schools" and by "two military parents who taught him the values of service, hard work, and standing up for what’s right."

Show sources

Sources: Christian Menefee campaign website, "About," accessed January 14, 2026; YouTube, "TX-18 Deserves a Fighter. Christian D. Menefee Delivers Results., posted March 17, 2025," accessed January 14, 2026; Christian Menefee campaign website, "About," accessed January 14, 2026

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

No candidate in this race has completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Ballotpedia is seeking 100 percent participation so voters can learn more about all the candidates on their ballots.

You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:

Campaign ads

This section includes a selection of up to three campaign advertisements per candidate released in this race, as well as links to candidates' YouTube, Vimeo, and/or Facebook video pages. If you are aware of other links that should be included, please email us.

Al Green

Ballotpedia did not come across any campaign ads for Al Green while conducting research on this election. If you are aware of any ads that should be included, please email us.

Christian Menefee

"The Fighter That Delivers" – Menefee campaign ad, released January 13, 2026

"It's Our Time To Fight" – Menefee campaign ad, released October 22, 2025

"Fighting For Our Families" – Menefee campaign ad, released October 22, 2025

"Receipts" – Menefee campaign ad, released October 22, 2025

"Stronger Every Fight" – Menefee campaign ad, released October 4, 2025

"The Fighter That Wins" – Menefee campaign ad, released September 25, 2025

View more ads here:

YouTube

Endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

Click the links below to see official endorsement lists published on candidate campaign websites for any candidates that make that information available. If you are aware of a website that should be included, please email us.

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

We provide results for polls that are included in polling aggregation from RealClearPolitics, when available. We will regularly check for polling aggregation for this race and add polls here once available. To notify us of polls available for this race, please email us.

Race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.^[6]
Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.^[7]^[8]^[9]

Race ratings: Texas' 18th Congressional District election, 2026
Race tracker	Race ratings
	3/17/2026	3/10/2026	3/3/2026	2/24/2026
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic
Decision Desk HQ and The Hill	Pending	Pending	Pending	Pending
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week.

Campaign finance

Candidate spending

Name

Party

Receipts*

Disbursements**

Cash on hand

Date

Al Green

Democratic Party

$940,156

$620,451

$538,790

As of February 11, 2026

Christian Menefee

Democratic Party

$2,668,709

$2,538,382

$130,327

As of February 11, 2026

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.

Satellite spending

See also: Satellite spending

Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.^[10]^[11]^[12]

If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.

By candidate	By election
Al Green Christian Menefee	OpenSecrets Federal Election Commission

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

District map - A map of the district before and after redistricting ahead of the 2026 election.
Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2026 U.S. House elections in the state.
Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.

District map

Competitiveness
Presidential elections

State party control

Below is the district map used in the 2024 election next to the map in place for the 2026 election. Click on a map below to enlarge it.

2024

2026

See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2026

This section contains data on U.S. House primary election competitiveness in Texas.

Post-filing deadline analysis

The following analysis covers all U.S. House districts up for election in Texas in 2026. Information below was calculated on Dec. 8, 2025, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.

Two hundred fifty-two candidates — 98 Democrats and 154 Republicans — ran for Texas’ 38 U.S. House districts. That’s 6.6 candidates per district. There were 4.2 candidates per district in 2024, 5.8 in 2022, 6.4 in 2020, 5.9 in 2018, 3.5 in 2016, and 2.8 in 2014.

These were the first elections to take place since the Texas Legislature passed a new congressional map. The Texas House of Representatives passed it on Aug. 20, 2025, and the Texas Senate passed it on Aug. 23, 2025. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed the new congressional map into law on Aug. 29, 2025.

This was the highest total number of candidates who ran for the U.S. House since 2014.

Ten districts were open in 2026. There were three districts open in 2024, six in 2022, six in 2020, eight in 2018, two in 2016, and one in 2014.

Reps. Morgan Luttrell (R-8th), Michael McCaul (R-10th), Jodey Arrington (R-19th), Troy Nehls (R-22nd), Marc Veasey (D-33rd), and Lloyd Doggett (D-37th) retired from public office. Reps. Jasmine Crockett (D-30th) and Wesley Hunt (R-38th) ran for the U.S. Senate. Rep. Chip Roy (R-21st) ran for attorney general of Texas.

Two incumbents — Reps. Christian Menefee (D) and Al Green (D) — ran against each other in the redrawn 18th district. Menefee was the incumbent in the 18th district, and Green was the incumbent in the 9th district.

Fifty-nine primaries — 32 Democratic and 28 Republican — were contested in 2026. In total, there were 39 contested primaries in 2024, 44 in 2022, 50 in 2020, 46 in 2018, 33 in 2016, and 19 in 2014.

Fifteen candidates ran for the open 9th district, 21st district, and 35th district, tying for the most candidates running for a district in 2026.

Nineteen incumbents — eight Democrats and 11 Republicans — faced primary challengers in 2026. There were 19 incumbents in a contested primary in 2024, 19 in 2022, 18 in 2020, 15 in 2018, 19 in 2016, and 12 in 2014.

Candidates filed to run in the Republican and Democratic primaries in all 38 districts, meaning no districts were guaranteed to either party.

Partisan Voter Index

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is D+21. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 21 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Texas' 18th the 48th most Democratic district nationally.^[13]

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2024 presidential election was in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by The Downballot.

2024 presidential results in Texas' 18th Congressional District
Kamala Harris	Donald Trump
81.2%	17.1%

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in Texas, 2024

Texas presidential election results (1900-2024)

16 Democratic wins
15 Republican wins

Year	1900	1904	1908	1912	1916	1920	1924	1928	1932	1936	1940	1944	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020	2024
Winning Party	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	D	D	D	R	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

See also: Party control of Texas state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Texas' congressional delegation as of February 2026.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Texas
Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	0	13	13
Republican	2	25	27
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	0	0
Total	2	38	40

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Texas' top four state executive offices as of October 2025.

State executive officials in Texas, October 2025
Office	Officeholder
Governor	Greg Abbott
Lieutenant Governor	Dan Patrick
Secretary of State	Jane Nelson
Attorney General	Ken Paxton

State legislature

Texas State Senate

Party		As of October 2025
	Democratic Party	11
	Republican Party	18
	Other	0
	Vacancies	2
Total		31

Texas House of Representatives

Party		As of October 2025
	Democratic Party	62
	Republican Party	88
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total		150

Trifecta control

Texas Party Control: 1992-2025
Three years of Democratic trifectas • Twenty-three years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
Governor	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

District election history

2024

Regular election

Texas' 18th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 Republican primary)

Texas' 18th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Texas District 18

Sylvester Turner defeated Lana Centonze, Vince Duncan, and Kevin Dural in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 18 on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Sylvester Turner (D)	69.4	151,834
	Lana Centonze (R)	30.5	66,810
	Vince Duncan (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	62
	Kevin Dural (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	14

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 218,720
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Ed Atkinson (Veteran's Party)
Sheila Jackson Lee (D)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 18

Incumbent Sheila Jackson Lee defeated Amanda Edwards and Robert Slater (Unofficially withdrew) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 18 on March 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Sheila Jackson Lee	60.0	23,629
	Amanda Edwards	37.3	14,668
	Robert Slater (Unofficially withdrew)	2.7	1,059

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 39,356
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Jasmine Blue (D)
Isaiah Martin (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 18

Lana Centonze defeated Aaron Hermes in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 18 on March 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Lana Centonze	53.3	6,202
	Aaron Hermes	46.7	5,438

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 11,640
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Special election

See also: Texas' 18th Congressional District special election, 2024

The special election filled the vacancy left by Sheila Jackson Lee (D), who died on July 19, 2024.^[14]