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Black voters make up 45% of the voting-age population in the new CD18. Latinos make up 35% but because they have lower registration rates, and historically lower participation rates, the seat is considered a safe Black seat.
There is a four-decade age difference between the candidates (Green – 78, Menefee – 38). This has prompted many in the media to characterize the race as a generational conflict between Houston’s older Black political establishment and a younger, more progressive and diverse coalition seeking to unseat that establishment. There is certainly that element to the contest. However, another less discussed issue, has come to be perhaps the defining feature of the race.
Green serves as a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee. In that role, Green has consistently advocated for stricter banking regulations and consumer protections. He has also been an outspoken critic of cryptocurrency. Green has warned of the fraud risks and lack of traditional financial oversight regarding cryptocurrencies. He has also expressed his fears that cryptocurrencies could undermine the U.S. monetary system and the dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency.
So, the crypto industry has targeted Green and appears to be the principal source of funding for Menefee’s campaign. According to an analysis by the Defender, Houston’s premier Black newspaper, Menefee has outraised Green 5-to-1, including more than $2 million spent by outside groups. Menefee’s largest backer has been the Protect Progress PAC. The Protect Progress PAC’s website states its goal as such: “providing blockchain innovators the ability to develop their networks under a clearer regulatory and legal framework is vital if the broader open blockchain economy is to grow to its full potential here in the United States.”
Protect Progress is affiliated with the super PAC Fairshake, a major political organization supporting the crypto industry. Although Fairshake describes itself as bipartisan and focused on crypto policy, reports indicate it spent substantially more supporting Republicans than Democrats during the 2024 election cycle. Trump, of course, has also become an enthusiastic supporter of cryptocurrency.
So, what we have in this race is young progressives allied with the crypto industry, which has increasingly aligned itself with Trump and Republicans, to unseat a long-time Democratic firebrand. There is an adage that politics make strange bedfellows. That certainly appears to be the case in CD18.
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