A crypto PAC affiliated with Fairshake invested $5 million in a Texas congressional runoff ahead of Tuesday’s vote.
Summary
- Protect Progress spent $5 million to support Christian Menefee and $2.8 million to oppose Al Green in Texas’ 18th District runoff on Tuesday.
- Kalshi’s prediction market places Menefee’s odds at 91% and Paxton’s odds at 96% in the Texas Senate runoff, where total betting volume exceeded $16 million.
- Green voted against the GENIUS Act and the Clarity Act and holds an F rating from Stand With Crypto, making his seat a direct target for Fairshake’s $193 million war chest for 2026.
Protect Progress, an affiliate of the crypto-backed Fairshake PAC, spent $5 million to support Democratic challenger Christian Menefee in Texas’ 18th District runoff on Tuesday and another $2.8 million to oppose incumbent Al Green, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Fairshake reported $193 million in liquidity by 2026.
Kalshi’s prediction market gave Menefee a 91% probability of winning, with Polymarket at a similar figure. Total betting volume in the Texas Republican Senate parallel race between Ken Paxton and John Cornyn has exceeded $16 million, with Paxton holding roughly 96% odds following Trump’s endorsement.
Why Green’s seat became a priority for Fairshake
Al Green is one of the most vocal crypto critics in Congress. He voted against the GENIUS Act stablecoin bill and the Clarity Act, and Stand With Crypto gave him an F rating. “I’m an unbought, liberated, unafraid, unbought Democrat by cryptocurrency,” Green told his colleagues in the House, accusing Menefee of making a “deal with the devil” by accepting Fairshake’s support.
Fairshake, backed primarily by Ripple Labs and Coinbase, also gained support from the Blockchain Leadership Fund, backed by Anchorage Digital and Chainlink Labs, in the Menefee race. Menefee was elected to Congress in a special election in January 2026 and quickly became the industry’s preferred candidate over Green.
Crypto.news has covered the Clarity Act’s compressed legislative timeline as the 2026 midterms approach. The Texas result will be read as a signal of the extent to which pro-crypto PAC spending can advance congressional seats in contested districts.
Crypto.news also reported on the U.S. Treasury’s AML rules for stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act, the specific legislation that Green opposed and which made his headquarters a target. Crypto.news has also been tracking the broader legislative push to institutionalize crypto policy that Fairshake’s congressional spending is intended to support.
