Representative Christian D. Menefee of Texas, a former prosecutor who was sworn into office in February, defeated Representative Al Green in a Democratic primary runoff on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, after the two were effectively drawn into the same district.<\/p>\n
Here are five things to know about Mr. Menefee, 38, of Houston.<\/p>\n
1. He is one of the newest members of Congress. Mr. Menefee, who is about 20 years younger than the average<\/a> House member, campaigned on a message of generational change as he took on Mr. Green, a 78-year-old Democrat known for acts of protest at President Trump\u2019s speeches. \u201cThe district is ready for a passing of the torch,\u201d Mr. Menefee said in a recent interview, adding, \u201cI\u2019m ready to take on the torch and lead us into the future.\u201d Earlier this year, Mr. Menefee won<\/a> a special election runoff in his district. This was his fourth election in seven months.<\/p>\n 2. He was the Harris County attorney for five years. Mr. Harris rose to the post, an elected office, in 2020. At 32, he was the youngest person ever elected to the position in Harris County, which includes Houston and is one of the most<\/a> populous counties in the country. He was also the first African American to serve in the role.<\/p>\n 3. He fought Gov. Greg Abbott on cases involving transgender children. Mr. Menefee bucked Mr. Abbott, a Republican, in 2022 after the governor ordered<\/a> that standard medical treatments provided to transgender adolescents be classified and investigated as \u201cchild abuse.\u201d Mr. Menefee vowed that he would not prosecute any such cases. \u201cWe don\u2019t believe that allowing someone to take puberty suppressants constitutes abuse,\u201d Mr. Menefee said at the time, describing the governor\u2019s position as a \u201ccomplete misrepresentation of the definition of abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n 4. He was involved in a skirmish over election inspectors in 2022. Mr. Menefee, in his role as county attorney, was critical of the arrival<\/a> of Texas state election inspectors in Harris County during the 2022 midterm elections. Mr. Menefee argued that the review by the state officials was a politically motivated effort by Republicans allied with Donald J. Trump, who had pressed for more scrutiny<\/a> of the 2020 election. Mr. Menefee\u2019s office sent a letter to the federal government asking that Justice Department monitors join the state inspectors at the polls.<\/p>\n