U.S. Rep. Al Green (D-Houston) ended months of speculation Friday night by declaring himself a candidate for Texas’ 18th Congressional District in 2026.
“We are here tonight, friends, because we refuse to allow President Donald Trump to decide for us who is going to represent us in the Congress of the United States of America,” said Green, speaking at his campaign kickoff event at the Wyndam Houston near NRG Park.
Green has represented Texas’ 9th Congressional District for more than 20 years. He became one of the central targets of Republican redistricting efforts this past summer, following intense pressure from Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott. State lawmakers moved the 9th from solidly Democratic territory in south and southwest Houston to Republican-leaning areas in eastern Harris County and Liberty County.
Much of Green’s traditional base, not to mention his own home, was redrawn into the 18th Congressional District. Green had stated as early as August that, while he would be on the ballot in 2026, he would not be a candidate for the 9th.
In the March primary, he likely will face the winner of a special election runoff to complete the term of the late U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner, who served in the 18th District from January until his death in March. The runoff is between acting Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee and former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards, both fellow Democrats.
“We’re going to fight for all sides of the 18th and 9th congressional districts, because these districts have come together now as one, and while they are the 18th, the 18th is the number that’s on the district, most of the people have come from the 9th congressional district,” Green said. “And I’m going to ask that you in the 9th now and in the 18th now as they exist, let’s start now to unify.”
The redistricting map is currently under legal challenge. A collection of civil rights groups and individuals have asked a panel of three federal judges to issue an injunction blocking the map from taking effect in time for the 2026 election. The panel has yet to issue a ruling, and the candidate filing period for that election begins Saturday.
Green is trying to claim the mantle of two of the three previous members of Congress for the 18th District, both of whom he had worked alongside: U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who died in July 2024 at the age of 74, and Turner, who died in March at the age of 70. Green himself is 78 and will be 79 by Election Day 2026.
He enters the primary just days after the first round of the special election to fill the remainder of Turner’s term. Menefee is 37, and Edwards is 43. Green alluded to the age difference, without naming his potential opponents in the Democratic primary, with a line reminiscent of one used by President Ronald Reagan against former Vice President Walter Mondale during the 1984 presidential campaign.
“There is some question about age, and I want you to know that I will not make an issue about anybody’s youthfulness,” Green said. “I think that people who are of age can run, so I want them to run.”
Green stressed his actions in office in making the case for the votes of residents of the new 18th Congressional District.
“You know that I will stand up to Donald Trump because you saw me do it,” Green said. “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.”
Green argued that, if Democrats retook control of both houses of Congress, they needed to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, and the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, overriding the use of the filibuster in the Senate if necessary, as Republicans had done in confirming Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee.
“If we had used that rule, we could have prevented people from deciding now that where you are from does not allow you to buy land in the state of Texas,” Green said, in reference to Texas’ recently enacted Senate Bill 17. “We can protect people who happen to be of Asian ancestry, who have money in their pocket that they want to spend in this country to buy land, and they only want it for a residence, for a business.”
Finally, Green leaned into his record of having filed multiple articles of impeachment against Trump.
“I celebrate the people who are going to make sure that the Trumps of the world don’t have an opportunity to serve in office one day longer than they’ve already been there, which is why, when I go back to Congress, I promise you, I will file additional articles of impeachment to remove Donald Trump from office.”
https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2025/11/07/535536/al-green-18th-congressional-district-march-primary-houston-democrat/