Crypto PACs spend $9 million in Texas and score wins in both parties

Crypto-focused political committees are flexing their growing bipartisan political muscle in Texas, spending more than $9 million on races this cycle as Tuesday’s primaries deliver a string of wins for industry-backed candidates across both parties.

Houston Democrat Christian Menefee defeated fellow Democrat Rep. Al Green in the Democratic primary runoff for Texas’s 18th Congressional District, after Republican-led redistricting dismantled Green’s longtime seat and forced the House Financial Services Committee member into a rare incumbent-on-incumbent showdown.

Green had earned an “F” from crypto advocacy group Stand With Crypto after opposing key industry-backed legislation and warning that cryptocurrency could erode U.S. financial leverage abroad.

“Rep. Green’s defeat proves that anti-crypto hostility carries real electoral consequences,” Geoff Vetter, a Fairshake spokesperson, told CoinDesk. “Fairshake was the difference-maker in this race, and we will continue to aggressively back leaders like Rep. Menefee across the country.”

In the Republican Senate primary, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton toppled longtime Sen. John Cornyn. In other races, Fairshake’s Republican affiliate, Defend American Jobs, and its Democratic counterpart, Protect Progress, backed candidates on opposite sides of the aisle, while the separate crypto-focused Fellowship PAC supported Paxton to the tune of $500,000.

Elsewhere in Texas, Defend American Jobs spent roughly $1.8 million backing four winning Republican candidates: Jon Bonck ($348,433), Tom Sell ($426,279), Carlos De La Cruz ($581,172) and Alex Mealer ($436,278). All four were low-turnout runoffs where the eventual nominee is typically heavily favored in November, making them efficient targets for a well-capitalized political network.

Texas had only one night of primaries, but Tuesday’s results suggest the crypto industry is already positioning aggressively with a well-capitalized war chest for the 2026 midterms, when Democrats are favored — by a slim margin — to sweep both the House and Senate.