Christian Menefee, a freshman Democratic US representative, defeated veteran congressman Al Green in a fierce Democratic primary runoff in Texas on Tuesday. The runoff was the result of Republican gerrymandering that redrew congressional districts.
Last year, the Republican-dominated Texas legislature approved a congressional map designed to flip seats in the GOP's favor. Under the new map, Green's reliably Democratic 9th district was effectively eliminated, prompting him to announce a bid for the 18th district in November.
Menefee was sworn into the seat in January after winning a special election to replace the late US representative Sylvester Turner. During the campaign, Green sought to link Menefee with big-money politics, accusing him of being aligned with 'Trump crypto cronies,' according to Houston Public Media.
Green, a congressional fixture for over two decades and a staunch Trump critic, has gained national attention for his protests against the Trump administration. In February, he was ejected from the president's State of the Union address after holding a sign reading 'Black people aren't apes!' in response to Trump sharing a racist AI-generated video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as simians.
