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Tag: Christian Menefee

  • CAIR Will Continue Civil Rights Work Despite Abbott’s Terrorism Declaration [UPDATE] – Houston Press

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    Editor’s Note: The Muslim Legal Fund of America and the CAIR Legal Defense Fund announced Thursday that they have filed a federal lawsuit against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton to block enforcement of Abbott’s “unconstitutional and defamatory” November 18 proclamation, which they say falsely declared the Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations a “foreign terrorist organization” and threatened various civil penalties against the civil rights organization if it continues to serve the people of Texas.

    Original story:

    Being Muslim doesn’t make one a terrorist, but that didn’t stop Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott from condemning two prominent civil rights groups this week, prompting an immediate response from one that the allegations are defamatory and have no basis in law or fact. 

    Abbott issued a proclamation on Tuesday designating the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations as foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organizations. This designation authorizes heightened enforcement against both groups and their affiliates and prohibits them from purchasing or acquiring land in Texas, according to a press release. 

    The Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have “long made their goals clear: to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam’s ‘mastership of the world,’” Abbott said in a statement. 

    “The actions taken by the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR to support terrorism across the globe and subvert our laws through violence, intimidation, and harassment are unacceptable,” he said. “These radical extremists are not welcome in our state and are now prohibited from acquiring any real property interest in Texas.”

    It’s an unusual move on Abbott’s part, since, under the Immigration and Nationality Act, only the U.S. secretary of state can officially designate foreign terrorist organizations following consultation with the attorney general and treasury secretary.

    The impact of the action by Abbott is limited to Texas law enforcement and authorizes the state attorney general to sue organizations deemed affiliated with CAIR or the Muslim Brotherhood, the Guardian reported this week.

    In his proclamation, Abbott referenced comments by Muslim Brotherhood founders that supported “fighting of the non-believers.” The governor also cited that Hamas, a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, orchestrated a 2023 terrorist attack in Israel in which nearly 400 people were killed. 

    Abbott said he targeted CAIR because the organization was named in 2007 as having ties to the Holy Land Foundation, a group that was shut down for sending millions of dollars to Hamas. CAIR has denied the allegations and was not indicted. 

    Habiba Noor, a lecturer at Trinity University, told the Texas Tribune this week that Abbott is using an “Islamophobic toolbox” to rehash conspiracy theories in an effort to criminalize Muslims. One such conspiracy theory, the lecturer said, is that CAIR is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. 

    CAIR, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, responded by saying in a letter that Abbott didn’t have the authority to unilaterally declare Americans or American institutions terrorist groups. 

    CAIR Texas said its civil rights work would continue undeterred. A spokesperson for CAIR Houston did not immediately respond to voicemails and emails seeking comment on Wednesday. 

    “Greg Abbott is an Israel First politician who has spent months stoking anti-Muslim hysteria to smear American Muslims critical of the Israeli government,” CAIR National said in a statement. “Mr. Abbott has once again shown that his top priority is advancing anti-Muslim bigotry, not serving the people of Texas. His latest publicity stunt has no basis in fact or law, nor can it stop our civil rights work.”

    At press time, the Muslim Brotherhood had not issued a response to Abbott’s proclamation. In 2015, the group was banned in Egypt, where it was founded, and declared a terrorist organization. The Muslim Brotherhood supports charitable causes and has said that its aim is the establishment of a state ruled by Sharia law. 

    Sharia is an Islamic legal and moral code that serves as a path for Muslims to live according to God’s will, as derived from the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. 

    And that’s a problem for Abbott, who, one day after designating the Muslim groups as terrorists, called for an investigation into “possible criminal violations by Sharia tribunals masquerading as legal courts and … purporting to enforce Sharia law” in Collin and Dallas counties. 

    Texas Republicans, including Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, have attempted for months to thwart the construction of a 400-acre Muslim community called EPIC City near Plano, calling it a “Sharia compound.” 

    Abbott signed a bill into law in September prohibiting “residential property developments like EPIC City from creating Sharia compounds and defrauding and discriminating against Texans.” No evidence has been produced that the organizers of EPIC City, which would include 1,000 residential units, a school and a mosque, intended to operate under Sharia law. 

    The project appears to be on hold because of numerous legal challenges and state investigations.

    Harris County commissioners Rodney Ellis, Adrian Garcia and Lesley Briones jumped into the fray late Tuesday evening, issuing a statement that Abbott’s proclamation against the Muslim organizations “is a reckless action that fuels fear and runs contrary to Harris County’s success as the country’s most diverse metro area. It also has no basis in the law.”

    “Harris County has thrived as a welcoming place for all. People come here from around the world,” the three Democratic commissioners said in a joint statement. “Not only do we contribute to their success, but they contribute to ours. We all work together to build a safe, prosperous community. The governor’s rhetoric fractures community trust and undermines the safety and cohesion that government is meant to protect.”

    Numerous elected officials from Houston and Harris County attended a Muslim celebration to break fast at the end of Ramadan this year. Credit: Daniel J. Cohen

    Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee, who is competing in a January runoff election to fill the unexpired term of the late Sylvester Turner in U.S. Congressional District 18, said Abbott’s announcement was discriminatory and unconstitutional. 

    “He’s putting entire communities at risk by spreading fear instead of facts,” Menefee said in a statement. “Governor Abbott is again breaking down the trust we need to keep our neighborhoods stable. I denounce his decision and call on him to reverse it.” 

    In its response to Abbott, CAIR National said that the governor’s office has spent months stoking anti-Muslim hysteria to smear American Muslims critical of the Israeli government. The organization said it plans to continue opposing all forms of bigotry, speaking out against injustice and defending the Constitution’s guarantees of free speech. 

    CAIR has previously taken legal action against the state, most recently last year in defense of anti-genocide protesters at the University of Houston and University of Texas at Dallas. 

    “We have successfully sued you three different times for shredding the First Amendment for the benefit of the Israeli government, and we are ready to do so again if you attempt to turn this publicity stunt into actual policy,” the statement reads, in a direct message to Abbott. 

    This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.

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    April Towery

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  • Chaos Erupts Over Judges’ Ruling to Block Maps in 2026 Midterms – Houston Press

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    A panel of three federal judges ruled Tuesday that Texas can’t use the congressional redistricting maps approved in August — citing substantial evidence of racial gerrymandering — thwarting President Donald Trump’s plan to maintain a Republican majority in Washington. 

    The decision was hailed as a victory by Texas Democrats but political experts said it creates mass chaos and, “If you’re a candidate, you’re in a pickle.” 

    “It’s confusing for candidates, it’s confusing for voters, it’s confusing for the whole political system,” said University of Houston political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus. 

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican who ordered the redistricting effort after he received a letter suggesting he do so from Trump’s Department of Justice, issued a statement following the ruling, saying he would swiftly appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

    “The Legislature redrew our congressional maps to better reflect Texas’ conservative voting preferences — and for no other reason,” Abbott said. “Any claim that these maps are discriminatory is absurd and unsupported by the testimony offered during 10 days of hearings. This ruling is clearly erroneous and undermines the authority the U.S. Constitution assigns to the Texas Legislature by imposing a different map by judicial edict.”

    It throws a wrench in the plans of some candidates who have already filed to seek office under the assumption that the new maps would hold. That includes longtime U.S. Rep. Al Green, D-Houston, who was drawn out of District 9 and announced recently he would run instead for District 18. 

    Immediately after the redistricting map was approved in August, Texas Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, filed for Congress in Green’s District 9, presumably assuming that he could win a congressional district that favored GOP voters. 

    So what happens to the 2026 midterms?  Judge Jeffrey Brown, a Trump appointee, ordered Tuesday that the 2026 Congressional election “shall proceed under the map that the Texas Legislature enacted in 2021.” 

    Candidates who need to change their plans will have to do so quickly. The filing deadline is December 8.  “It’s really all up to the Supreme Court now,” Rottinghaus said.

    The U.S. Supreme Court is also deliberating a redistricting case out of Louisiana that could result in weakening the Voting Rights Act, the professor pointed out. 

    “If the Supreme Court says the Voting Rights Act doesn’t exist anymore, then this will go away,” he said. “It’s hard to know what they will do, but they’ve been hinting at that. The court has to make that determination.” 

    The Supreme Court can take as long as it wants to make a decision on Texas’ redistricting maps but it will likely be pressured by Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton to make an emergency ruling before the December filing deadline, said Nancy Sims, a UH political science lecturer. 

    “To me, it won’t be solved until the filing deadline,” Sims said. “It’s just chaos. It’s massively chaotic. It’s really challenging for the candidates to know what to do. If you’re Al Green or Briscoe Cain, you’re in a pickle, and your donors are in a pickle. It’s a wait-and-see for a couple of weeks, with a holiday in the middle.” 

    Green, Cain, and Austin Democrats Greg Casar and Lloyd Doggett — whose congressional districts were essentially merged together under the new map — and several other candidates are in a holding pattern, Rottinghaus added, as they wait to see what the Supreme Court does before they change their filing paperwork. 

    Congressional District 18 candidates Christian Menefee and Amanda Edwards, who are facing off in a January 31 runoff, are unaffected since that election is a special-called contest to fill the unexpired term of the late former U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner. But it does produce uncertainty around who the runoff winner faces in the primary and when that election will be. 

    Menefee said in a statement Tuesday that the federal judge panel “confirmed what we already knew: this Trump-backed map was intentionally drawn to silence Black and Brown voters.”  

    “I hope the [Supreme] Court stands on the side of the Constitution and protects voters of color instead of letting politicians gut democracy in broad daylight. This moment will define what democracy means in 2025,” he said. 

    The Supreme Court could delay the primary to May while they’re litigating the map, Rottinghaus said. They’ve done it before.

    “That’s why Ted Cruz is the junior senator from Texas,” he said. “In 2012, they pushed the primary off from March to the May deadline. Ted Cruz was way behind but a few months later, he was neck and neck. That pushed it to a runoff and he got the win.” 

    The three judges who voted to block the maps approved in August — Brown; Judge David Guaderrama, a Barack Obama appointee; and Judge Jerry Smith, a Ronald Reagan appointee — offered scathing remarks in their ruling toward not just Trump but Abbott and Texas Republicans. 

    “The justices were very unhappy with Trump’s political involvement in this,” Rottinghaus said. “They basically implied that because the president asked for this to happen, it sullied the whole process in a partisan way that is a prima facie outcome that this is all racially gerrymandered.”

    “They’re very vocal about how the Trump administration is being unfair and misleading when it comes to the arguments they have made,” he added. “You have to read this as a full-on rebuke of Donald Trump. They also slap the Legislature and Greg Abbott around a little bit, basically saying that they did what Trump wanted, which is bad enough, but there are also all these mistakes they made procedurally. The outcomes are definitely gerrymandered by race. They’re very critical.” 

    Brown said in his ruling that “the public perception of this case is that it’s about politics.” 

    “To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 map. But it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 map,” the ruling states. 

    Tuesday’s decision a huge blow to Republicans who were hoping that the new maps would yield control of 30 of the state’s 38 congressional districts and protect the narrow GOP majority in the U.S. House, Sims said.

    “It’s common for a president to lose the midterms,” she said. “The reason they went to this extreme with the mid-decade redistricting in the first place was to help try to shore up the House for the president and the Republican Party. The margins are so thin currently and the way to remedy that was to draw more Republican seats, and that’s what they set out to do. Texas was first in line with our hands up, saying, Yes, sir.”

    This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.

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    April Towery

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  • Edwards And Menefee District 18 Runoff Set for January 31 – Houston Press

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    Former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards and Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee won’t get a holiday break from the campaign trail.

    Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday that a runoff election to fill the late U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner’s unexpired term in Congressional District 18 will be held on January 31.

    Menefee earned 21,979 votes, or 28.89 percent, in the November 4 election, and Edwards got 19,440 votes, or 25.55 percent. In order to win outright, one candidate must get more than 50 percent of the vote. In a crowded race with 16 candidates, a runoff was expected.

    Both top vote-getters are Black attorneys who ran as Democrats. Both have speculated that Abbott wasn’t in a hurry to fill the District 18 seat because it would add a blue vote in Congress, and President Donald Trump has been desperately trying to maintain his Republican majority.

    Democrats Amanda Edwards and Christian Menefee will face off in a January 31 runoff election for Congressional District 18. Credit: Screenshots

    Immediately after the November 4 election, both candidates urged Abbott to call the runoff promptly to avoid voter confusion and further delay.

    “For far too long, the people of Texas’ 18th Congressional District have paid taxes, faced rising costs and watched Congress make critical decisions, all without anyone fighting for them in Washington,” Edwards said in a November 10 statement. “That’s unacceptable. I’m calling on the governor to stop playing political games with this seat and to finally place people over politics by scheduling this special election runoff.”

    Despite the Republican-led redistricting effort that was approved by the Texas Legislature over the summer, voters who cast ballots in the 2024 Congressional District 18 Race when Turner was elected were able to do so in the November 4 election and can also vote in the runoff.

    “This district is known for having a powerful voice, and right now that voice matters more than ever,” Menefee said recently when asked about the confusion among CD 18 residents. “Republican leaders are doing everything they can to dilute the voting power of the people, from changing maps to making it more confusing to vote, all in an effort to silence our communities.”

    “But every single vote cast in this election pushes back against that,” he added. “Every single vote says we’re still here, we’re still fighting, and we’re ready to stand up for democracy.”

    The winner of the runoff will serve until Turner’s term expires at the end of 2026. Another election will be held next year for a full two-year term, and longtime Congressman Al Green, who was redistricted out of his District 9 seat, has filed to run in 2026.

    Early voting in the runoff begins on January 21.

    This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.

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    April Towery

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  • Christian Menefee and Amanda Edwards Are Headed to a Runoff – Houston Press

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    As predicted, Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee and former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards are headed to a runoff in the U.S. Congressional District 18 race to fill the unexpired term of the late Sylvester Turner. 

    None of the 16 candidates garnered more than 50 percent of the vote, which forces the top two hopefuls to face off again early next year. The district has been without representation since Turner died in March. The late Sheila Jackson Lee represented District 18 for almost three decades and died last year. 

    With all 600 precincts reporting early Wednesday morning, the following results were reported by the Harris County Clerk’s Office: 

    Christian Dashaun Menefee, D: 21,979 votes (28.89 percent) 

    Amanda Edwards, D: 19,440 votes (25.55 percent) 

    Jolanda Jones, D: 14,524 votes (19.09 percent) 

    Carmen Maria Montiel, R: 5,107 votes (6.71 percent) 

    Isaiah R. Martin, D: 4,336 votes (5.70 percent) 

    Ollie J. Knox, R: 3,130 votes (4.11 percent) 

    Stephen Huey, D: 1,414 votes (1.86 percent) 

    Ronald Dwayne Whitfield, R: 1,174 votes (1.54 percent) 

    Carter Page, R: 943 votes (1.24 percent) 

    Theodis Daniel, R: 937 votes (1.23 percent) 

    Valencia Williams, D: 915 votes (1.2 percent) 

    George Edward Foreman IV, ND: 827 votes (1.09 percent) 

    Feldon Bonner II, D: 553 votes (0.73 percent) 

    Vince Duncan, ND: 407 votes (0.53 percent) 

    Reyna Anderson, ND: 263 votes (0.35 percent) 

    Tammie Jean Rochester, GRN: 135 votes (0.18 percent) 

    Menefee issued a statement Tuesday evening saying his campaign was “powered by community and by people who believe in fighting for something bigger than themselves.” 

    “Tonight’s results show what we already knew: when you fight for the people of Houston, they fight for you,” he said. “For months, as this seat sat vacant, I heard from voters who were ready for someone willing to take on Donald Trump and the far right — not just talk about change, but deliver real results. I’m proud that we’ve earned the trust and support of so many voters.”

    Amanda Edwards greets voters at the Acres Homes Multi-Service Center on Tuesday morning. Credit: April Towery

    Edwards said on Wednesday morning that she’s ready for the runoff. 

    “I’m deeply grateful to the people of the 18th Congressional District who have supported me and know that victory is right around the corner for our community,” she said in a statement. “We are entering this runoff neck and neck with the community behind us. By no means am I the establishment candidate in this race; I am the people’s candidate, and my track record for delivering results for the people will help propel me forward in this runoff.” 

    Menefee and Edwards filed shortly after Turner’s death and have been frontrunners throughout the race. Former Jackson Lee staffer Isaiah Martin proved to be a strong fundraiser, putting up about $1 million. Edwards raised $1.2 million and Menefee had $1.5 million in his coffers. 

    “I got involved in this race because I was really frustrated with the system,” Martin said in a social media video Tuesday night. “I felt as if we needed to fight back a lot harder in Congress and D.C., and I really wanted to be that person. Although it’s not going to be me on the House floor, I’m … still going to be working to defeat this failed President in D.C., because ultimately we know he’s destroying everything we’ve got.” 

    Texas Rep. Jolanda Jones, D-Houston, filed almost three months after the others, saying she had to stay committed to the constituents of her state House district until the session came to a close. Jones raised about $342,000 in the CD 18 race and said she expected that people would count her out. She campaigned vigorously during the 11-day early voting period and on Tuesday, earning about 19 percent of the vote and coming in third place. 

    “I’ve been at the polls every day, all day, from 7 to 7, because I have nothing better to do than fight for the people I represent,” Jones said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “I’m in these streets. I’m not in an ivory tower. I’m in the streets with the people.”

    Jones broke quorum this summer with several other House Democrats when a mid-decade redistricting proposal threatened to change the boundaries of several congressional districts, including CD 18, in a Donald Trump-led effort to flip five Texas seats red. 

    Some Democrats ultimately returned from the quorum break, although Jones did not, and the new map passed but is now being challenged in court. The Houston Press and other media outlets reported last week that some District 18 voters were confused about whether the new boundary lines would prevent them from voting in Tuesday’s election. 

    County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth said that voters who cast ballots in Congressional District 18 in 2024 would be able to do so on Tuesday and again in next year’s runoff. The new boundary lines won’t take effect until the March 2026 primary election, Hudspeth said. 

    Christian Menefee talks to voters at Acres Homes Multi-Service Center on Tuesday morning. Credit: April Towery

    Whoever wins the runoff will hold the seat until the end of 2026 but will have to immediately file again for the primary election. Longtime U.S. Rep. Al Green, who was redistricted out of his District 9 seat, is expected to announce a bid for District 18 on Friday, November 7. 

    Houston City Council candidate Kathy Tatum was campaigning Tuesday morning near the Acres Homes Multi-Service Center and said residents in District 18 have been without a member of Congress for almost a year and could benefit from a youthful perspective. Green is 78. Menefee is 37, and Edwards is 43. 

    “We don’t have nobody in CD 18 because in the Democratic Party we have loyalty to our ancestors and those who paved the way,” Tatum said. “We have had people in office who should have retired, and that’s a situation that could happen again if Al Green enters this race.” 

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    April Towery

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  • Congressional District 18 Boundaries Haven’t Changed Yet – Houston Press

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    As if low voter turnout wasn’t already a challenge in the November election, some Harris County residents have said they weren’t planning to vote in the race for a new Congressional District 18 representative because they thought they’d been redistricted out of that area. 

    That’s not the case. The District 18 boundaries are the same as they were in the 2024 election, when former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner won the seat. After Turner’s death in March, the Texas Legislature approved new congressional boundary lines but they haven’t gone into effect yet. A special election to fill Turner’s unexpired term is set for November 4, and early voting is underway.

    The new redistricting maps are currently being challenged in federal court and, if upheld, will apply to the March 2026 primary election. 

    Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth said voters will receive new registration certificates in early 2026 when the new lines are implemented.

    Ken Rodgers, president of the Greater Third Ward Super Neighborhood, said he and his neighbors are clear that they haven’t been drawn into another district, and even if they had, they’d still get to vote for a new member of Congress in the November election. The challenge, Rodgers said, is to get people to go to the polls.

    “I’m just encouraging people to vote, period,” he said. “The numbers are still low.”

    As of Tuesday, about 112,794 Harris County residents cast ballots at 70 early voting polling places. The unofficial numbers also include returned mail ballots. Harris County has almost 2.7 million registered voters, so the turnout thus represents a dismal 4.23 percent. However, early voting continues through Friday and many people still prefer to cast their ballots on Election Day.

    The Congressional District 18 race includes 16 candidates, with former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards and Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee leading in the polls. Both frontrunners are Democrats. Political experts say a runoff is likely to be held in January 2026, and the District 18 boundaries will stay the same for that too. 

    Edwards said at a Wednesday press conference she’s encountered scores of voters who have expressed uncertainty about which district they live in and where their votes will count in the upcoming election. 

    “This whole situation is by design: not having the special election occur in close proximity to the death [of Turner] creates a distance with people in terms of their connection to a November election applying to something that happened in March,” she said. “It’s just a lot of those things that, when you add them up, you create a very confused electorate.”

    Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott could have called the special election immediately but said after Turner’s death that Harris County has poorly managed elections in the past and would need months, not weeks, to prepare.

    Bishops R.H. Jones, Kenneth Murray Sr. and John Wynn attended Edwards’ media event and said they’re working in the community to educate voters that there is a November election and the redistricting boundaries haven’t changed.

    “They don’t even know they’re confused,” Wynn said. “Logically, [approved redistricting maps] would apply to the next election.”

    Bishops R.H. Jones, Kenneth R. Murray Sr. and John Wynn say they’re educating voters that there is a November election and the redistricting boundaries haven’t changed yet. Credit: April Towery

    Currently, the 18th Congressional district has about 800,000 constituents and includes downtown, part of The Heights, Acres Homes, Third Ward, northeast Houston and the area surrounding George Bush Intercontinental Airport and Humble. 

    The new proposed boundaries move the district’s core population south and east, taking in portions of the 9th Congressional District, represented by Democrat Congressman Al Green, whose home will be in the 18th district under the new map. 

    Green didn’t file for the special election to fill Turner’s unexpired term but has said he’s considering a run for District 18 in the March primary.

    The lines were redrawn mid-decade in an effort to flip five seats red so President Donald Trump could maintain his Republican majority in Congress. District 18 is now and will remain a Democrat-majority district. Critics have said the effort, led by the Republican-majority Texas Legislature, was unnecessary and racist. 

    The new District 18 boundaries will decrease the Hispanic population, which plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit say dilutes the voting power of minority communities. 

    Christian Menefee, third from right, poses with supporters Houston City Councilman Mario Castillo, Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, U.S. Congresswoman Rodney Ellis, Houston City Councilwoman Tiffany Thomas and Houston Federation of Teachers president Jackie Anderson at an October 28 event. Credit: Jackie Anderson

    Menefee said Wednesday he’s also seeing “a ton of confusion.”

    “This election is about our democracy,” Menefee said in an email to the Houston Press. “This district is known for having a powerful voice, and right now that voice matters more than ever. Republican leaders are doing everything they can to dilute the voting power of the people, from changing maps to making it more confusing to vote, all in an effort to silence our communities.”

    “But every single vote cast in this election pushes back against that,” he added. “Every single vote says we’re still here, we’re still fighting, and we’re ready to stand up for democracy.”

    Edwards ran for the District 18 seat in 2024 and placed second to longtime U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in the primary. After Jackson Lee’s death in July 2024, Edwards made another bid and lost to Turner in a special election. 

    “It has been far too long since we’ve had representation,” Edwards said on Wednesday. By the time a representative is elected, almost a year will have passed since District 18 residents have had an opportunity to advocate for federal funding and had a voice in Congress, the candidate said.

    “A lot has taken place, including the passage of the Big Beautiful Bill that has devastating impacts on our community,” she said. “That only passed, initially, by a margin of one vote while the seat was empty.”

    Edwards’ message on Wednesday was clear: “If you were able to vote in the 18th Congressional District in 2022 and 2024, you can vote in that district in 2025 in this special election.” Because the election is to fill Turner’s unexpired term, the boundaries that were in place when that term began must be honored, the candidate explained. The winner of the special election will serve until December 2026.

    All Texas voters will decide on 17 constitutional amendments, including tax exemptions, a statewide water fund and bail reform. Houston and Cypress-Fairbanks ISDs have contested school board races, and an at-large Houston City Council seat is also up for grabs for voters who live within the city limits. 

    This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.

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    April Towery

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  • Congressional District 18 Hopefuls Make Final Push – Houston Press

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    Sixteen candidates are vying for the U.S. Congressional District 18 seat vacated by the March death of former Rep. Sylvester Turner, and political experts say it will likely be decided in a runoff between Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee and former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards. The winner will hold the seat until the term expires at the end of 2026.

    The University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs recently released a poll showing Menefee and Edwards in the lead, with 27 percent and 23 percent, respectively. Texas Rep. Jolanda Jones was in third place with 15 percent, according to the poll. 

    Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University who co-authored the survey, said Jolanda Jones is “clearly in a second-tier category compared to Menefee and Edwards.”

    “It’s not really a three-candidate race right now. It’s a two-candidate race,” he said. 

    Former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards talks with Harris County voters at an October forum. Credit: April Towery

    University of Houston political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus agreed that all signs are pointing to a runoff, with Menefee and Edwards as the top vote-getters. 

    “It’s been a pretty quiet race; it’s been pretty dormant,” Rottinghaus said. “There’s a chance that Menefee could [win outright] but I don’t think it’s going to happen. It depends on turnout. I don’t think there’s a ton of enthusiasm at this point.” 

    Early voting began Monday, and Election Day is November 4. The boundaries of Congressional District 18 were redrawn over the summer and are currently being challenged in federal court, creating confusion for some voters who aren’t sure whether they still live in CD 18. 

    Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth reminded voters at a press conference Monday that the current District 18 boundaries, the ones that have been in place for the past several election cycles, remain in place until 2026. They will also remain the same in a runoff, but not in next year’s election, when the seat will be up for grabs again. 

    Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee speaks at an October press conference. Credit: Jayla Fields

    The UH report states that if federal judges affirm Texas’s new district maps for the 2026 election, much of Congressional District 9 would be redistricted into Congressional District 18. U.S. Rep. Al Green, who has represented District 9 for two decades, received high (89 percent) favorability ratings by the Democratic voters living within the current boundaries of District 18, according to the poll. 

    Green is not participating in the District 18 race to fill Turner’s unexpired term but said he’s considering a bid for the seat next year. 

    The district has elected a Black Democrat for more than 50 years; the late former U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee represented the area for almost three decades. Lee died in July 2024, and Turner, a former Houston mayor, held the seat for less than three months before his death. 

    Christian Menefee and Amanda Edwards were leading in a poll conducted earlier this month of 1,200 likely voters. Credit: University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs

    Other noteworthy hopefuls in the District 18 race for Turner’s unexpired term include Republican journalist Carmen Maria Montiel, Democrat Isaiah Martin, and Independent candidate George Foreman IV. Montiel received support from 6 percent of likely voters; Martin and Foreman received support from 4 percent. No other candidate received more than 3 percent. 

    The polling numbers have not discouraged political newcomer Stephen Huey from remaining in the race to fill Turner’s seat. The Democrat told the Houston Press his party is “not getting a lot done right now.”

    “We need to communicate better to the rest of the American people,” he said. “The preaching to the choir thing doesn’t work.” Huey, a technology consultant, said he’s the only Democrat in the race who has extensive industry experience in healthcare, finance, and energy. He added, however, that even though he speaks Spanish and spent part of his childhood in West Africa, he’s still a white guy running in a district heavily populated by Black and Latino voters.

    “Some people I’ve talked to insist that maybe [the Congress member] should be someone from Third Ward, and I totally understand that,” Huey said. “For me, I’m most concerned about the district being served well.”

    From left, Congressional District 18 candidates Christian Menefee, Stephen Huey and George Foreman IV debate at an October forum. Credit: Shirley Lim

    About 1,200 likely voters were surveyed in the UH poll between October 7 and 11. When presented with eight policy issues, 44 percent said civil rights and civil liberties were the top concerns facing the nation, followed by jobs and the economy (13 percent), healthcare (12 percent), and inflation and prices (11 percent).

    Rottinghaus suggested that the top two candidates may be saving some of their “best stuff” for the runoff. Both Menefee and Edwards have been campaigning nonstop since they filed for the post shortly after Turner’s funeral. They’re both young Black lawyers and have taken similar positions on opposing the mid-decade redistricting effort, supporting affordable healthcare for all Americans and standing up to the Trump administration. 

    Menefee, 37, recently sued the federal government, claiming the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency illegally rescinded its $7 billion Solar for All grant program. The county attorney also joined government leaders across the country in filing a legal motion opposing a federal law that would strip Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood.

    Edwards, 43, hosted an “Uplifting Black Women’s Voices” media event last week featuring Alison Leland, the widow of Mickey Leland, who held the District 18 seat for 10 years. Edwards has highlighted her service as an at-large Houston City Council member and her community advocacy. 

    Edwards ran for the District 18 seat in 2024, placing second to Jackson Lee in the primary. After Jackson Lee’s death, Edwards made another bid and lost to Turner in a special election. During those campaigns, she built a base of supporters and increased her name recognition among the district’s 825,000 residents.

    As it stands today, Congressional District 18 is about 43 percent Hispanic, 32 percent Black and 17 percent white.

    The UH survey shows that Jolanda Jones did not poll well among white voters, compared to Menefee and Edwards. The state rep broke quorum this summer, fleeing the state to avoid voting on a redistricting map that she deemed racist and illegal. While she has said her constituents supported her action, she lost valuable campaign time. Jones also filed almost three months after Menefee and Edwards did, saying she didn’t want to abandon the constituents of her Texas House district while the Legislature was in session. 

    Nancy Sims, a political science lecturer at the University of Houston, said Congressional District 18 is “a pretty solidly liberal district.” 

    “It has a vast array of people that span from far north Harris County all the way to the inner city,” she said. “It’s a diverse district. I think it’s fair to say that the voters of District 18 are proud of the heritage of their representatives, from Barbara Jordan to Mickey Leland to Sheila Jackson Lee. They like the outspoken, opinionated representatives that fight for them.” 

    Congressional District 18 voters have elected a Black Democrat for the past 50 years. Credit: University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs

    Democrats have criticized Gov. Greg Abbott for delaying the election to November when he could have called it immediately after Turner’s death in March. By the time a runoff is held, likely in February, the district will have been without representation for almost a year. 

    “All of this was intentional,” candidate Isaiah Martin told the Texas Tribune. “Republicans knew that when they did this sham process, and they’re trying to depress our turnout. And so it’s up to us to make sure that we don’t let them succeed.”

    This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.

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    April Towery

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  • Harris County Wants $7 Billion Solar Program Restored – Houston Press

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    Since Donald Trump took office in January, Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee has sued the federal government four times, saying Tuesday that it’s the only way to get the attention of an administration that has repeatedly, illegally, broken promises to low-income Texans. 

    Menefee announced this week that he filed the latest lawsuit in federal court demanding that the $7 billion Solar for All program be reinstated. The grant would have offered $59 million to Harris County, the largest Solar for All award in the nation. Earlier this year, the county attorney filed two lawsuits against the federal government related to healthcare funding and one to challenge federal workforce layoffs. 

    “In the two that were about money, we’re 2 and 0,” Menefee told the Houston Press on Tuesday. “Over the refugee health funds, the funding was restored. Over the public health funds in the wake of COVID-19, the funding was restored. In the federal layoffs case we got a temporary injunction that blocked the federal government from continuing the layoffs. That went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, which eliminated the injunction.” 

    “In many instances, with the Trump administration, the left hand has no clue what the right hand is doing,” he added. “They’ll eliminate funding; they will get rid of programs; they will temporarily freeze programs. It is 100 percent illegal, and they’re not truly made aware of that until they’re hauled in front of a judge and they have to answer for what they’ve done.” 

    Menefee’s latest action is an effort to salvage about $250 million that was awarded to the nonpartisan Texas Solar for All Coalition, designed to lower electricity bills, create clean energy jobs, and expand access to affordable solar power across disadvantaged communities. 

    Grant recipients would have had their energy bills slashed by about $500 per year, and the funding would have covered solar and battery installation for thousands of residents in neighborhoods that experience blackouts and high heat, said Menefee, who is running for U.S. Congressional District 18 in November. 

    The Solar for All program was approved as part of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. The federal government rescinded the grant — illegally, according to Menefee — in August of this year, saying the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” eliminated the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority and funding for the program. 

    Menefee said Congress created the program and promised funding to local governments and families across the country. They can’t just walk it back, he said. 

    “This isn’t just another policy disagreement,” he said. “It’s a clear-cut case of federal overreach, an illegal attempt to cancel a program that Congress already appropriated the funds for. They never supported this program, so they made up a justification for killing it.”

    U.S. Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher, D-Houston, said at a Monday press conference that work had already started in the communities that were awarded Solar for All grants when the funds were rescinded. 

    “In Houston, Port Arthur and Waco, training programs were already underway to certify Texans in solar installation and energy efficiency,” Fletcher said. “The coalition had already begun building resilience hubs, community centers, and homes equipped with solar and battery backup to keep the lights on during hurricanes or potential grid failures. For communities like ours along the Gulf Coast, these hubs mean the difference between safety and suffering in the next storm.” 

    The Solar For All program would have offered measurable savings for families that have trouble paying the bills, “especially in times like these when prices are going up because of other terrible policies implemented by the Trump administration,” the congresswoman added.  

    When the cuts were announced, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called programs like Solar for All “a grift and a boondoggle,” citing a need for environmental regulation. About 90 percent of the EPA workforce has been furloughed during the government shutdown that began October 1, so it’s unclear whether a response to Harris County’s lawsuit will be forthcoming. 

    Menefee told the Press on Tuesday that the lawsuit and media events aren’t part of a symbolic pep rally; the goal is to get the funds reinstated. 

    “We want a ruling that the EPA’s decision violates the law,” he said. “We’re taking action to ensure that the courts hold the federal government accountable. The elimination of this program is illegal .My hope is that the court requires the EPA to reinstate the program.” 

    Hundreds of applications were submitted for the competitive program, and several county leaders worked to ensure that Harris County got a cut. The grant would have assisted more than 28,000 families across Texas and about 10,000 in Harris County. 

    Harris County families and neighborhoods had not yet been identified as funding recipients, Menefee said, but the program was widely publicized. 

    “Folks very much knew that Harris County had been awarded this grant and we were going to, with federal dollars, make a deep investment in lowering people’s bills,” he said. “There were not specific individuals who were expecting they were going to get the money but certainly the community at large expected this money to come.” 

    Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Commissioner Adrian Garcia attended the press conference this week and detailed the rigorous grant application process for the solar program. 

    “Generating more electricity is not part of a political agenda, power is not partisan, and fuel for our first responders should not be controversial,” Garcia said. “We need to produce more energy to sustain the growth across Texas, and I hope the courts will see it this way too.”

    Hidalgo said the grant wasn’t just going to help Harris County families; it was going to boost infrastructure for natural disasters. 

    “There’s a saying in emergency management that there are two kinds of generators: the kind that start and fail and the kind that never start,” she said. “We were working based on that premise and developing hubs that would have their own ability to produce solar energy, their own microgrid, so if the grid failed, they could still have power.”

    Menefee said he hopes Harris County will get a response from the government within 60 days. 

    “This is about more than one grant,” Menefee said. “It’s about good government. The federal government made a promise to local communities. We did our part, and now Washington has to hold up its end of the deal.” 

    This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.

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    April Towery

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  • Polls Net Varying Results in Congressional District 18 Race As Expert Says It’s Anybody’s Game

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    When Texas Rep. Jolanda Jones fled the state to break quorum earlier this year, joining House Democrats who refused to vote on what they believed was a racially gerrymandered redistricting map, she lost valuable time needed to raise funds and campaign for the District 18 U.S. Congressional seat.

    While Jones was in Chicago and other destinations she hasn’t disclosed, her major opponents — Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee and former Houston City Councilwoman Amanda Edwards — were pounding the pavement and stocking their war chests in preparation for the November 4 election.

    Did the quorum break hurt Jones’ chances of making it to a Democratic runoff? With about a month before early voting begins to fill the unexpired term of the late U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner, that remains to be seen. But Jones, a U.S. champion heptathlete who has been elected to public office 11 times, says she’d do it again.

    “We were hopeful that I had enough name ID that a three-month head start for [my opponents] would not be fatal,” Jones said. “The [legislative session] ended on June 2. I spoke with my family, I spoke with my son, and I announced [my candidacy for District 18] on June 5.”

    Jones was playing catch-up from the time she filed; Menefee and Edwards announced shortly after Turner’s death in March. Jones was called back to Austin when a special session began on July 21 and the fight between Republicans and Democrats over congressional redistricting began.

    Menefee and Edwards testified at public hearings on redistricting; Jones served on the governor’s select committee that presided over the hearings.

    And on August 3, Jones and at least 50 of her colleagues fled the state to avoid voting on the redistricting map proposed by GOP lawmakers at the direction of President Donald Trump in an effort to garner five Republican seats in the U.S. House. When Democrats returned to Austin about two weeks later and reluctantly voted on the new map, Jones stayed behind.

    “Nobody was saying [the map] was racist,” Jones said. “I’m a lawyer. I know the law, and I just felt it was important to highlight that [it was racist]: one, because it was true, and two, because it was legally required to have those maps overturned as unconstitutional and illegal. The media ran with it, and I became the face of the quorum break.”

    Menefee and Edwards are also lawyers, and both publicly denounced the redistricting process as racist. But because Texas and the rest of the country was closely following the quorum break, Jones got the edge on airtime. That reminded people that she was a fighter, Jones said, but it also confused some voters who thought she’d dropped out of the District 18 race.

    “My team was concerned that I was being out-campaigned, and I think they had a right to be,” she said. “But for me, there was never a doubt that I had to pick my actual constituents, not constituents I hoped for.”

    June numbers showed that Menefee led in fundraising, followed by Edwards, Zoe Cadore, Isaiah Martin, Jones, and Ebony Rain Eatmon. Cadore and Eatmon have since dropped out of the race, with Eatmon lending her endorsement to Menefee. Other former candidates in the CD 18 race, Robert Slater and James Joseph, dropped out after the congressional redistricting maps were approved and filed to run for the 29th District and the 142nd District, respectively.

    A July poll conducted by the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Government revealed that Menefee and Edwards each polled at 19 percent among likely voters in the 18th Congressional District. Jones and Republican candidate Carmen Maria Montiel tied for second place with 14 percent each.

    On September 11, Jones released numbers from BluePrint Polling showing she’s leading the race with 25.3 percent, followed by Montiel with 18.9 percent, Menefee with 13.9 percent, Edwards with 9.7 percent, and Martin with 3.5 percent.

    “No one will fight harder than I to stop Republicans from taking away our social security, our public schools, our health care, our constitutional rights, and more,” Jones said in a press release last week. “I’ve proven I can stand up to Donald Trump, [Texas Gov.] Greg Abbott, the FBI, and the Texas Rangers. I am grateful that voters are seeing what it looks like when Democrats fight back.”

    The following day, Menefee released data from Lake Research Polling showing he was tied for first place with Jones at 22 percent.

    “This reinforces what multiple polls have consistently shown: Menefee remains a frontrunner in a competitive race that will be decided by which campaign can effectively reach voters in the compressed special election timeline,” Menefee’s camp said in a press release.

    “Our polling has consistently shown us ahead throughout this race, and it confirms that voters want a proven fighter with the experience to deliver results from day one,” Menefee said in an emailed statement. “We know we have a winning message and incredible grassroots support across this district, along with endorsements from 17 different labor unions, along with groups like the Oak Forest Democrats, Greater Heights Democrats, Tejano Democrats, and the Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus.”

    According to a phrase popularized by American writer Mark Twain, “There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.” So how does one make sense of the conflicting numbers?

    Jones said that when it comes to the District 18 race, the timing of the polls matters. Some of the data was gathered before she even entered the race. Some people were surveyed while Jones was breaking quorum and voters weren’t sure whether she’d abandoned the campaign, she said.

    Polls aren’t cheap, Jones explained, adding that some cost up to $40,000, and candidates occasionally don’t release the data if it’s not favorable to them.

    “We all have top-notch pollsters,” Jones said. “I believe [the other polls] are accurate but they’re not all fresh. Some of the other ones were done three weeks before mine.”

    Nancy Sims, a University of Houston political science lecturer who hosted a CD 18 candidates forum earlier this month that Jones did not attend, said the polls are helpful in determining how to run a race, but it ultimately comes down to what the voters decide on Election Day. And the voters of Congressional District 18 will have been without representation for almost a year by the time a candidate is sworn into office.

    “They each have a poll out showing that they’re No. 1,” Sims said of the top three candidates. She said she can’t predict who will win, especially since Jones is just now engaging on the campaign trail.

    “It’s hard to tell how she’s going to measure up comparatively since she’s not been able to go to the forums and things over the last few months,” Sims said.

    Once a winner is declared in November, they’ll likely face a runoff and be sworn into office in January. Turner’s term expires in 2026, so another election will be held next year and the filing deadline will precede the runoff.

    Confused yet? To make matters more interesting, there’s still a question of whether redistricting maps approved in 2021 or those approved this summer could be overturned. Both are tied up in litigation in federal court. And U.S. Rep. Al Green, who has opted not to file for the special election for Sylvester Turner’s unexpired seat, could join the race in January for the full two-year term, thanks to the new redistricting boundaries.

    “The candidates have got to make up their minds to run for the new District 18 before the runoff is held,” Sims said. “If Al Green is in the race, you don’t bow out but you recognize that your campaign is more challenging, running against a quasi-incumbent.”

    Turner’s staff has remained in D.C. since his death in March and “worked hard to provide basic services,” but the constituents of District 18 haven’t had a voice or a vote, Sims added.

    “The major things that have been debated like the Big Beautiful Bill, there was no representation from their district,” she said. “Would it have changed the legislation? Not likely, but it’s not fair to not have a voice.”

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    April Towery

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