Christian Menefee wins Texas congressional runoff

HOUSTON (CN) — Former Harris County attorney Christian Menefee won Saturday’s runoff election for Texas’ 18th Congressional District, defeating former Houston City Councilmember Amanda Edwards.

“Tonight, the people of this district have made their voices heard, and I am honored and humbled to be their next congressperson,” Menefee told the crowd in his Saturday night victory speech. “For too long, our community has gone without representation while prices kept rising and fundamental rights came under attack. That ends now. I’m ready to get to work on day one, fighting for affordable healthcare, protecting our rights and delivering real results for working families in this district.”

Menefee earned a 68% majority of votes in the runoff, according to Harris County’s “Harris Votes” page. But overall turnout for the special election was low.

County election officials reported a total of just over 23,600 votes cast between early and mail-in voting, a small share of the roughly 381,000 registered voters in the district reported by the Texas Secretary of State Office. More than half of those people voted early in the week before the election.

Saturday’s election gives the 18th District a representative once again, after spending more than half of the past two years without one. The deaths in office of Representative Sheila Jackson Lee in August 2024 and of her successor, former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, in March 2025 left the seat vacant for months on end. So, too, did Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s move to delay the special election to November and the lack of a majority winner among the 16 candidates in that election’s first round.

Menefee earned his name recognition as the youngest elected Harris County attorney, serving from 2021 to 2025, stepping down from his role as acting county attorney just a few weeks before the runoff. Menefee spent his tenure as county attorney active in frequent voting rights and environmental litigation on behalf of Houston residents, facing down Republican officials in Austin and oil companies in the local Fifth Ward.

Edwards, in contrast, earned her name recognition in a brief stint on the Houston City Council. Edwards has spent her time since holding that post making frequent runs for higher office, first in a failed bid for the Democratic primary for Senate in 2020, then losing the two previous elections for the 18th District in 2024.

Federal Election Commission data showed that, through January 11th, Menefee raised over $2.2 million and spent $1.8 million, both outraising and outspending Edwards by a solid $400,000.

Menefee will serve in Congress for the remainder of 2026, where his presence will narrow the GOP’s slim majority to just four votes.

But both Menefee and Edwards will face off against Congressman Al Green in the March primary for the 2027-28 term. Green, a 10-term veteran of Congress and outspoken opponent of President Donald Trump, was redistricted out of his 10-term seat for the 9th District.