Rep. Al Green forced into runoff with candidate half his age after failing to get 50% of Democratic primary vote

The Democratic primary race for Texas’ redrawn 18th district is headed for a runoff after the 78-year-old congressman failed to get over 50% of the vote.

Rep. Al Green will face Rep. Christian Menefee, who is only 37 years old, in the runoff election on May 26.

Green had accused Menefee of making a ‘deal with the devil’ to gain the support of the cryptocurrency industry.

Green was first elected in 2004 but chose to run in the 18th district after Republicans redrew his district to tilt more Republican.

With nearly all the votes counted, Menefee has only 46% of the vote, while Green garnered 44.2%.

The winner of the runoff will face Ronald Whitfield, who won with 55.1% of the Republican primary votes over the 44.9% garnered by Elizabeth Vences.

Menefee complained to his supporters Tuesday evening that Green had run a “negative campaign” against him.

“Congressman, you can talk all your trash about me,” Menefee said, addressing Green. “I’m going to keep being focused on integrity, on standing firm, on doing the right thing, and on serving my communities.”

Green had accused Menefee of making a “deal with the devil” to gain the support of the cryptocurrency industry and said it aligned Menefee with “Trump crypto cronies.”

He also responded to Menefee by saying that he was “talking truthful trash” when he accused Menefee of not showing up for work.

RELATED: Democrat releases statement on sexual assault allegations from 2008

Green recently made headlines when he interrupted the president’s State of the Union address and held up a banner reading, “Black people aren’t apes,” in reference to a controversial video posted to the president’s social media page. He was kicked out of the chamber.

The elderly Democrat also faced sexual harassment allegations, which he denied, and was censured by Congress when he interrupted a different Trump speech before a joint session of Congress.

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