{"id":170717,"date":"2026-02-19T02:40:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T02:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/170717\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T02:40:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T02:40:10","slug":"houston-voters-adjust-to-new-congressional-districts-during-primary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/170717\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston voters adjust to new congressional districts during primary"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOUSTON \u2013 As early voting begins for the primary, many Houston-area residents are discovering that the district they\u2019ve long called home has shifted under newly drawn mid-decade congressional maps. <\/p>\n

According to Michael Adams, a significant portion of voters from southwest Houston and parts of Fort Bend County, previously in the 9th Congressional District, have been moved into the 18th Congressional District. He notes that about 60% of voters who formerly lived in CD-9 are now part of CD-18.<\/p>\n

However, this shift also means some long-standing areas are no longer included in CD-18.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne would be Acres Homes and Independence Heights,\u201d Adams explained, highlighting neighborhoods with deep historical ties to the 18th District.<\/p>\n

For residents, the change can be confusing. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was kind of disappointed,\u201d Julie Holt said. \u201cI was so excited to vote for Christian Menefee that I was happy to be in his district. But it is what it is, and we just have to make the best of it and try to work with our candidates.\u201d<\/p>\n

A side-by-side look at Congressional District 18 before and after mid-decade redistricting. (Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

Report highlights changes across districts<\/p>\n

A report from the Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center at Texas Southern University<\/a> underscores the change in the boundaries and composition of Houston-area congressional districts:<\/p>\n

Only 3% of the residents of the new 9th Congressional District currently live in TX-9.<\/p>\n

Only 26% of the residents of the new 18th Congressional District currently live in TX-18.<\/p>\n

Only 37% of the residents of the new 29th Congressional District currently live in TX-29.<\/p>\n

In the new versions of these districts, the largest share of residents previously lived elsewhere:<\/p>\n

44% of new TX-9 residents lived in TX-29, 41% in TX-36<\/p>\n

64% of new TX-18 residents lived in TX-9<\/p>\n

58% of new TX-29 residents lived in TX-18<\/p>\n

The report also notes a strong partisan advantage in nine of the 10 Houston-area congressional districts, meaning the winner in most races will likely be decided in the spring primaries rather than the fall general election. <\/p>\n

Professor Adams emphasizes that understanding who represents you is crucial. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest thing is to know your representative. If you have problems, whether it\u2019s a federal question or a Social Security check, you need to know who to contact for constituency services,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Under the new maps, Acres Homes is now part of Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia\u2019s district. She faces a primary challenge from former state lawmaker Jarvis Johnson and restaurant owner Robert Slater.<\/p>\n

Side-by-side comparisons of the old and new 18th District show the extent of the changes. While CD-18 remains a majority African American district, the shift of neighborhoods and the influx of voters from CD-9 create a new political landscape for the upcoming primary.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 As early voting begins for the primary, many Houston-area residents are discovering that the district they\u2019ve…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":170718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[20635,69019,69018,56,69020,58,57,7217],"class_list":{"0":"post-170717","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-acres-homes","9":"tag-acres-homes-redistricting","10":"tag-cd-18-political-landscape","11":"tag-houston","12":"tag-houston-congressional-map","13":"tag-houston-headlines","14":"tag-houston-news","15":"tag-independence-heights"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}