Images show the boundary lines of both the old and new 18th Congressional Districts. Over two thirds of voters in the old boundaries now fall in other districts. Graphic by Mateo DeVries.
For residents of Texas’s 18th Congressional District, the path to the ballot box has become a frequent routine.
On May 26, voters will head to the polls for the fourth time in seven months to choose between two sitting members of Congress: veteran Representative Al Green and recently elected Congressman Christian Menefee.
The frequent elections follow a period of transition for the district. Rep. Sylvester Turner died in office less than a year after his election. He initially won the seat in a special election following the death of 10-term Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in 2024.
Menefee subsequently won a special election to fill the vacancy, but the 2025 mid-decade redistricting cycle has now forced a contest between Menefee and Green.
“This district in particular has changed a fair amount,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a professor of political science at the University of Houston. “About half the people who used to live in this district are now living in a different district. That means that Al Green’s district pretty much got split.”
On the University of Houston campus, one of the few locations to be in both the old and new iterations of the 18th District, interviews with constituents suggest that information regarding the new maps has not reached everyone. Veronica McKissic, a transfer advisor for the university, expressed concerns about the lack of public notification.
“I think it’s very, very sneaky,” she said. “It’s going to be very confusing to the average Joe… Why is it not being more advertised?”
The Menefee campaign identifies this confusion as a primary challenge. Campaign manager Jamie Stewart-Aday noted that the team is prioritizing voter education to address “exhaustion” among constituents who have been asked to vote repeatedly since late 2025.
The Green campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Historically, the 18th District has served as a cornerstone of Black political influence in Houston. However, the 2025 redistricting reduced the number of Black opportunity seats in the city from two to one.
State Sen. Borris Miles criticized the map during a recent Senate session, characterizing the consolidation as a reduction in representation.”Packing Congressional District 18 is not representation,” Miles stated. “It is suppression. And make no mistake, suppression is rigged-districting.”
As May 26 approaches, the contest represents what Rottinghaus describes as a “battle about the old versus new.”
Early voting began on May 18 and runs through May 22, while election day itself is on May 26.