After 23 years in office, Gene Green is still the right fit for the 29th Congressional District.

After 23 years, Gene Green is still the right fit for this key, mostly east Houston district.

Former Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia can point to 23 years on the Houston police force, six years on City Council, where he served as mayor pro tem, and six years as sheriff of Harris County, the third-largest sheriff ’s department in the country. Despite longfestering problems in the Harris County Jail he ultimately was unable to resolve, his is a stellar record of public service.

Now he wants to extend it. In the wake of his unsuccessful run for mayor, the 55-year-old native Houstonian announced that he would challenge veteran congressman Gene Green, a fellow Democrat and family friend, in a bid to represent the 29th Congressional District. Also running is political neophyte Dominique Garcia.

Why? That’s the question local political junkies are asking about the former sheriff. Why now and why this seat? That’s also the question district voters will have to ponder as they decide whether to replace an experienced elected official with a solid record of service and a well-earned reputation for responding to his constituents’ needs.

The district was crafted in 1991 as a Hispanic opportunity district, which means that its line are drawn so that Hispanics are able to choose their representative, who may or may not be Hispanic. Green, a 68-year-old former state legislator who grew up in the district, in the now largely Hispanic Lindale neighborhood, defeated a prominent Hispanic candidate in 1992 and has not faced a primary opponent since 1996.

This “hard-working, blue-collar district” (Green’s description) covers mostly east Houston, including Galena Park and South Houston and a portion of Pasadena, as well as parts of north Houston. The Hispanic share of the district’s population has grown to more than 76 percent, higher than all but four congressional districts nationwide, according to the Pew Research Center. Hispanics make up about 61 percent of eligible voters.

Garcia contends that it’s time for the district to elect a Hispanic, particularly in the face of mounting insults and attacks on Hispanics from the likes of Donald Trump. He also insists that the incumbent has been too cozy with the National Rifle Association. In addition to gun safety, his priorities include boosting educational opportunity, reforming immigration procedures, dealing with traffic congestion and growing the economy.

We’re glad that both challengers are running; in principle, the process works best when incumbents have to respond to challenges, particularly when they’ve been in office for a long time. This particular district, though, has been well served by the incumbent.

Green is familiar with the need for jobs, educational opportunity and health care in a district where roughly 24 percent of the residents struggle to get by on incomes below the poverty level. He’s worked over the years on air-quality issues affecting neighborhoods that abut one of the most industrialized areas in the nation, a district where children grow up in the shadow of refinery towers and petrochemical plants. He’s also responsive to the concerns of those very same economic mainstays.

Green pays close attention to his constituents, hosting clinics to give children free vaccinations, job fairs and workshops to help immigrants applying for citizenship. In Washington, he wields what power and influence he can in a calcified Congress controlled by Republicans, serving as a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and as the ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee on Health.

We respect Adrian Garcia’s record of service to the community, service that we expect will continue in one form or another, but we see no need at this time to make a change in the 29th Congressional District. Along with the financial arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and a number of local Hispanic organizations, we endorse Gene Green.

Feb. 1 is the last day to register for the March 1 primary election. Early voting is Feb. 16-26.