Crypto PAC pours $5M into Texas runoff on May 26

A crypto PAC affiliated with Fairshake has poured $5 million into a Texas congressional runoff ahead of Tuesday’s vote.

Protect Progress, an affiliate of the crypto-backed Fairshake PAC, spent $5 million supporting Democratic challenger Christian Menefee in Tuesday’s Texas 18th District runoff and a further $2.8 million opposing incumbent Al Green, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Fairshake reported $193 million cash on hand heading into 2026.

The Kalshi prediction market gave Menefee a 91% probability of winning, with Polymarket at a similar figure. Total betting volume on the parallel Texas Republican Senate race between Ken Paxton and John Cornyn topped $16 million, with Paxton holding roughly 96% odds following a Trump endorsement.

Why Green’s seat became a priority for Fairshake

Al Green has been among the more vocal crypto critics in Congress. He voted against both the GENIUS Act stablecoin bill and the Clarity Act, and Stand With Crypto awarded him an F grade. “I am an unbought, liberated, unafraid Democrat, unbought by crypto cash,” Green told colleagues on the House floor, accusing Menefee of making a “deal with the devil” by accepting Fairshake support.

Fairshake, backed primarily by Ripple Labs and Coinbase, also secured the endorsement of the Blockchain Leadership Fund, backed by Anchorage Digital and Chainlink Labs, in the Menefee race. Menefee was elected to Congress in a January 2026 special election and quickly became the industry’s preferred candidate over Green.

Crypto.news has covered the Clarity Act’s compressed legislative calendar heading into the 2026 midterms. The Texas result will be read as a signal of how far pro-crypto PAC spending can move congressional seats in contested districts.

Crypto.news has also reported on the US Treasury’s AML rules for stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act, the specific legislation Green opposed that made his seat a target. Crypto.news has also tracked the broader legislative push to institutionalise crypto policy that Fairshake’s congressional spending is designed to support.