U.S. Rep. Al Green says he’s waiting on the U.S. Supreme Court before locking in his 2026 reelection plans, but he’s clear on one thing: He’ll be on the ballot, running “from the place where my home is,” whether that ends up being Texas’ 9th or 18th Congressional District.
A three-judge federal panel in El Paso recently ruled that Texas’ new Donald Trump-backed congressional map is an unconstitutional racial gerrymander and ordered the state to use its 2021 map for the 2026 midterms. Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton have already appealed to the Supreme Court.
Green, a Houston Democrat who has represented the 9th Congressional District since 2005, filed earlier this month to run in the newly drawn 18th District after Republicans dismantled his current seat and pushed the “9” label to a new district based in conservative Liberty County. Under the blocked map, most of the people he currently represents — and his home — were drawn into the new 18th.
“I’m not moving, I’ve never moved,” Green said in an interview. “I’m staying where I’ve been for decades.”
‘The lines have moved, not me’
Green says the map is deliberately confusing. In the 2025 plan, lawmakers stripped Brazoria County and other areas from his current 9th District and then redrew the 18th to encompass his southwest Houston base. Roughly two-thirds of the new 18th’s population came from the old 9th, while less than one-third came from the historic 18th.
“They labeled it 18. When they labeled it 18, my house didn’t move. So I didn’t move to 18 — 18 moved to me and about 500,000 of the people I represent,” Green said.
At the same time, the number “9” was shipped east to a Liberty County–anchored district that shares almost none of its voters with the current 9th. Less than 3% of the voters in the new 9th district overlapped with those in the old one, a shift Green points to as proof that lawmakers were moving lines, not people, and targeting communities of color.
“That’s gonna give you some sense of how they can move the lines, but not the people,” he said. “And the people that were in the 9th are now in the 18th.”
For Green, that was evidence that race — not traditional districting principles — drove the map.
“What they did was racist. It was racial discrimination. That’s why I won the lawsuit,” he said, noting that he is listed as “Alexander Green et al.” as a plaintiff-intervener in the case. “If it was a power grab, it was a racist power grab. If it was politics, it was racist politics.”
Longtime defender of the 9th and 18th
Green stressed that his decision to file in the new 18th was about staying with the communities he has represented for years, while continuing a legal fight he has been waging inside and outside of court.
“I’ve been fighting to protect the 18th and 9th congressional districts since I’ve been in Congress,” he said. “Sheila [Jackson Lee] and I did it together. After she left us, I continued that fight.”
He said he has “spent tens of thousands of dollars” over the years on redistricting lawsuits and views the latest ruling as a vindication — not just for him, but for Black voters in Houston whose political power was at risk of being diluted.
“There is nobody else in the city of Houston, in the 18th congressional district, that has been associated with this longer than I have,” Green said. “I’m very knowledgeable about what’s been happening and what is happening now because I’m a party to the lawsuit.”
He also urged Democrats and civil rights advocates to stop soft-pedaling the language around race.
“We’re dealing with racism, and too many of us are afraid to say the word,” Green said. “Do not let comfort be confused with freedom. Our failure to stand up for ourselves is what’s going to cause the clock to be rolled back on us.”
Special election now, primary fight later
The El Paso ruling has ripple effects across Harris County. If it stands, it would preserve the four Democratic-held House seats anchored in the county, rather than reducing them to three, a major win for Houston-area Democrats.
It also reshapes the stakes in the race to replace the late U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner in the current 18th District. Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee and former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards are headed to a Jan. 31 runoff to fill out the remainder of Turner’s term, which ends Jan. 3, 2027.
That special election is separate from the March 3, 2026, primary, which will decide who serves the next full two-year term under whichever map ultimately governs the 2026 elections.
Green said he has been careful not to step on the ongoing special election.
“What I’m trying to do is respect what’s happening with the people who have been running to fulfill the unexpired term of Congressman Sylvester Turner,” he said. “This runoff is about that race. That race is separate and apart from what will happen after January.”
Waiting on the Supreme Court — and ready either way
Under current law, candidates have until Dec. 8 to file for the March primaries. Green has already filed for the new 18th District. If the Supreme Court lets the lower court ruling stand and orders Texas to use the 2021 map, Green said he will simply refile in the restored 9th District, which again would contain his home and longtime base.
“If the Supreme Court upholds the decision issued yesterday … I’m going to remain where I am, and I’m going to run in the 18th congressional district,” he said. “If the court says the 18th is not good [and reverts to the old lines], I’m in the 9th district. Then I’m going to run from the 9th congressional district. All I have to do is refile.”
Green noted that if the Supreme Court rules after the current Dec. 8 deadline, the lower court could extend the filing window to allow candidates to adjust — something he said has happened in past redistricting fights.
“I’ve been down this road before,” he said. “Either way, I will be on the ballot. I have never said that I wouldn’t be on the ballot.”
At bottom, Green said, his decision is anchored less in numbers on a map than in neighborhoods he’s served for decades.
“I will run from the place where my home is,” he said. “I’ve always held that position.”
