Voters in North Carolina, Texas, and Arkansas will decide on some of the first candidates for the 2026 midterm elections in the United States as the primary season begins, potentially affecting the future of Congress and crypto legislation.
In Texas, Democrat Jasmine Crockett is running for Texas Republican John Cornyn’s seat in the US Senate. Crockett, a member of the House of Representatives since 2023, voted for the GENIUS Act stablecoin payments bill in July and FIT21, the previous version of the digital asset market structure bill before the CLARITY Act, which he voted against.
Crockett came under scrutiny in 2022 after the Save Our Future political action committee (PAC), backed by former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, spent $1 million to support his run for the US House of Representatives. Web3 Forward, another PAC with ties to the crypto industry, reportedly put another $1 million into Crockett’s race.
The Democratic candidate said in a January interview that he has not received “any corporate PAC money” for his 2026 Senate campaign, but that doesn’t stop crypto-industry-backed committees from supporting his candidacy through media buys or criticizing his opponents through negative ads. According to a report by political tracking platform AdImpact, the Texas Senate primary election has spent more than $122 million for both parties through February 27.
related to: The founder of BitMEX has pledged $27 million to the London Institute of Mathematics after Trump’s pardon
Crockett will face state Rep. James Talarico in the Democratic primary, while Cornyn, the Republican incumbent, faces challenges from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and others. The race is just one of many in 2026 that could change the balance of power in Congress, with 33 Senate seats and all 435 House seats up for grabs.
A repeat in 2024 for crypto interest groups?
Fairshake, a Super PAC backed by many crypto companies including Ripple Labs and Coinbase, has spent more than $133 million on media in 2024 to support Bernie Moreno’s candidacy for the Ohio Senate and other key races.
The result, according to advocates including Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and then-Blockchain Association CEO Christine Smith, was “the most pro-crypto Congress” in history, which went on to pass the GENIUS Act and came close to adopting a comprehensive market structure bill.
Fairshake said in January that he had $193 million in his coffers ahead of the midterm elections, some of which Fairshake has already used to influence races in Alabama and Texas. Cointelegraph reached out to a spokesperson for comment on Tuesday’s initialization, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
The PAC’s affiliate, Protect Progress, reportedly said in February that it had committed $1.5 million to challenge Texas Rep. Al Green’s re-election bid, specifically citing the legislature’s “active hostility toward Texas’ growing crypto community.”
Crypto advocacy organization Stand With Crypto listed Greene as “strongly anti-crypto” based on his public statements and congressional voting record, while his primary opponent, Christian Menefee, received a “strongly pro-crypto” rating.
US President Donald Trump, whose campaign was also supported by many in the crypto industry, won the presidency in 2024. In his campaign promise to the industry, he replaced Gary Gensler as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, pardoning crypto figures, including former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, and signing into law.
However, the president faces conflict-of-interest claims from many lawmakers because of his family’s ties to crypto. Trump’s term ends in January 2029.
Magazine: A crypto lawyer warns that the Transparency Act risks repeating Europe’s mistakes
