Experience, seniority continue to make Green the best choice for 9th Congressional District.
Search for Al Green in Houston and you won’t spend too long looking.
Whether you find him securing face masks for workers during the early days of the pandemic, helping distribute food to struggling families at NRG Stadium, speaking at George Floyd’s funeral or pushing for congressional oversight at a Northside mail processing center, the congressman is out there representing his constituents.
The eight-term incumbent, an experienced legislator with a strong presence on the Financial Services Committee and the Homeland Security Committee, is our choice for voters in the 9th Congressional District, which extends along Beltway 8 from south Houston through Missouri City, Stafford and Mission Bend.
Green, 73, earned national prominence as the first member of Congress to present articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump in May 2017 after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. This may have been an easy call for someone who was last re-elected with 89 percent of the vote, but the move put him at odds with Democratic Party leadership, and showed Green was willing to do what he believed was right, regardless of consequence.
If voters send him back to Washington, he said his primary focus will be to protect the Affordable Care Act and ensure all Americans have access to health care. “This is the richest country in the world. We can afford to provide health care to people and not allow it to become ‘wealthcare’ for those who can afford it,” he told the editorial board.
Other areas of attention will continue to be flood protection, for which Green has secured $90 million for projects along Brays and Sims bayous, as well as streamlining recovery aid for future disasters. Green also continues to introduce legislation aimed at easing access to banking and loans for minority borrowers.
His opponents in the race are Republican Johnny Teague and Libertarian Jose Sosa. Neither can match the incumbent in experience and knowledge of the district, nor does either more accurately reflect the priorities of district residents.
Green has our recommendation for U.S. House District 9.