Texas House of Representatives Menefee, Greene advance to runoff, incumbents on shaky ground in first midterm primary

The first round of primary voting shows how this year’s midterm elections will play out, with incumbents shifting political ground.

That’s especially true in Texas, the first state to redraw congressional districts last year, where an incumbent was forced into a runoff and another was removed from the House entirely.

Former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, who abandoned his initial bid for the U.S. Senate to pursue Texas’ 33rd Congressional District, will face a runoff against U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson, who previously held the House seat he held.

Outspoken liberal Democratic Rep. Al Green, who was twice ejected from President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address over protests, and newly elected Rep. Christian Menefee will appear in the May 26 runoff for the Houston-area district.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Republican, former Navy SEAL, and independent, has faced attacks from the party’s far right for not being aligned with President Trump, making him the only House Republican in the state to fail to win the president’s support. He lost to Republican state Rep. Steve Toth, who received a late endorsement from Sen. Ted Cruz.

There was also a close race for the incumbent in North Carolina, and it was too early to vote early Wednesday.

Let’s take a look at where things stand after Tuesday’s primary election.

In a rematch of the North Carolina primary from four years ago, two-term U.S. Rep. Valerie Foushee is struggling to thwart a primary challenge from county official Nida Alam in a race that will test the weight of the progressive and establishment wing of the Democratic Party.

Foushee, a former local and state representative, represents the 4th Congressional District, which includes liberal strongholds of Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro and about half of Cary. The primary race boasts support from Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, his predecessor and current Senate candidate Roy Cooper, and more than 100 current and retired members of Congress and activist groups.

Mr. Arum, a Durham County commissioner backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, aims to capitalize on liberals’ frustration that Democratic leaders and elected officials are not pushing back against Mr. Trump and the policies of Republicans with sufficient force. The daughter of Indian and Pakistani immigrants, she said she was motivated by politics after the 2015 shootings of three of her Muslim college friends.

Political action committees spent more than $1 million pro-Alam or against the Houthis, according to campaign finance reports. But Foushee also later received outside support from a PAC that supported what it called “sensible” regulation of artificial intelligence.

Whoever wins the Democratic race will be the heavy favorite over Republican and Libertarian candidates in November. Kamala Harris defeated Donald Trump in the same district in the 2024 presidential election by a 2-1 margin.

Allred, a former congressman from Texas’ 32nd District, began his return to Congress after abandoning his second bid for the Senate in December, making the switch after Rep. Jasmine Crockett jumped into the Texas Senate race.

Johnson served six years in the Texas House of Representatives, winning Allred’s former seat in 2024.

The winner of the upcoming runoff will be the front-runner to represent the Dallas district, which was redrawn to lean Democratic in November.

Allred was an NFL linebacker for the Tennessee Titans before becoming a civil rights attorney and serving in Congress.

The unusual Texas primary between two incumbent Democrats was the result of a redrawing of voting maps ordered by President Trump ahead of November’s midterm elections. Greene, 78, switched to running in the newly redrawn 18th Congressional District after her current district was redrawn in favor of Republicans.

Mr. Menefee, 37, was sworn into Congress just a month ago after winning a special election to fill the unexpired term of Representative Sylvester Turner, who died last year. For some voters in Houston, Tuesday’s primary was the third time in four months they’d cast their ballots in a congressional election, causing widespread confusion.

Greene, who was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2004, is one of the party’s most outspoken critics of Trump and introduced an impeachment motion during the president’s first term.

The primaries have become one of this year’s generational competitions among Democrats, as young candidates say it’s time to elect new party leadership. Mr Green faces concerns from within his own party, which has become increasingly reluctant to defer to seniority.

Crenshaw, who is seeking a fifth term in Texas’ 2nd Congressional District, was the only House Republican in the state that President Trump did not endorse in the nation’s first major primary in 2026.

The former Navy SEAL, whose independent stance has sometimes brought him into conflict with fellow Republicans, spent the primary fending off attacks from the party’s hard-right wing for not aligning with Mr. Trump’s policies.

Mr. Toth, a state representative and member of the far-right Republican caucus in Congress, received significant support from Mr. Cruz late in the primary.

“This campaign was a referendum on who would campaign in one direction and govern in another, and the people made their voices heard,” Toth said in a statement after his victory.

Crenshaw, who lost his right eye in Afghanistan in 2012 when he was hit by an improvised explosive device, had clashed with Cruz over the senator’s support for Trump’s baseless claim that he won the 2020 presidential election.

He is among the Texas Republican candidates for Congress in 2022 who have recognized President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory as legitimate, a position that has at times put him at odds with Republican lawmakers.

Crenshaw also drew ire from conservatives after a viral video clip criticized some Republican politicians as “con artists” and “performance artists” who just tell conservative voters what they want to hear.