Crypto-backed Paxton, Menefee win Texas primary runoffs
Crypto-aligned PACs spent millions as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Houston Democrat Christian Menefee won primary runoffs; both races drew heavy crypto PAC spending.
On Tuesday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated four-term Senator John Cornyn in the Republican U.S. Senate runoff and will face Democratic state Representative James Talarico in November. In Houston’s 18th Congressional District, Democrat Christian Menefee defeated Representative Al Green after redistricting placed the two incumbents in the same district. Other Houston-area winners who secured party nominations included Alex Mealer and Jon Bonck.
Protect Progress, an affiliate of the Fairshake super PAC, reported roughly $5 million supporting Menefee and about $2.8 million on advertising opposing Green. Fellowship PAC, funded in part by Cantor Fitzgerald and Anchorage Digital, reported about $500,000 to support Paxton over Cornyn. Fairshake’s Republican affiliate, Defend American Jobs, backed Jon Bonck, Tom Sell, Carlos De La Cruz and Alex Mealer.
The contests drew concentrated spending by crypto-aligned groups focused on a small set of high-profile races. The votes came while Congress is considering legislation to define crypto market structure and to establish a regulatory framework for dollar-pegged stablecoins.
Prediction-market contracts and regulated exchanges showed strong backing for the crypto-aligned challengers before election day. Contracts implied odds above 90% that Paxton and Menefee would win, and nearly $15 million was reported traded on markets tied to the Paxton–Cornyn contest.
Stand With Crypto assigned Al Green an F for his opposition to industry-backed legislation and rated Menefee as pro-innovation. Dennis Porter, a Bitcoin-focused policy advocate, commented, “A pro crypto Democrat just ousted a 20-year incumbent Democrat who was anti crypto. Nature is healing.”
Campaign finance filings indicate the spending was targeted to specific contests rather than broad statewide advertising. Protect Progress concentrated its expenditures in the Houston race, while Fellowship PAC directed a smaller sum to the Senate runoff.
Lawmakers continue to debate proposals on exchange regulation, custody rules and how federal agencies should oversee stablecoins as the November general election approaches and successful primary candidates prepare for the next round of voting.
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