Here's a political twist: Congressman Dan Crenshaw lost his bid to stay in the House this week, but if you look at his stock portfolio, you'd think he was winning big. The Texas Republican lost his primary race to State Rep. Steve Toth, which means he's out of a job come January 2027. The good news for Crenshaw? His investment picks from his time in office are doing just fine.
While he hasn't been an active trader in recent years, his past moves are paying off handsomely. According to the latest filings, every single stock purchase Crenshaw made that he still owns is in the green. We're not talking about modest gains either—some are up by hundreds of percent.
Let's break it down. His most recent transaction was buying shares of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) back in March 2023. That position is up about 74%. But the real action happened in late 2022. On October 25 of that year, Crenshaw went on a bit of a shopping spree, picking up a basket of stocks and ETFs, each with an investment between $1,000 and $15,000. Here’s how those picks have performed, based on data from Quiver Quantitative, using the highest price on the purchase date and the price as of March 4 (dividends not included):
- Apple Inc. (AAPL): +73.8%
- Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN): +77.7%
- Direxion Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS): +98.1%
- Alphabet (GOOG): +189.1%
- Meta Platforms (META): +384.7%
- United States Oil Fund (USO): +26.8%
- Wynn Resorts (WYNN): +77.4%
So, several of the so-called "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks he bought are up more than 180%. The standout is Meta, which has nearly quintupled in value. Not a bad haul for a public servant.
This performance track record isn't a complete surprise. Back in 2021, the research group UnusualWhales named Crenshaw the fifth-best trader in Congress based on stock performance that year. He even ranked ahead of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who is famously followed for her investment activity. Pelosi came in sixth.
Since that active period in 2021 and 2022, Crenshaw's trading has quieted down. His last purchase was that SPY ETF in 2023. With his impending exit from Congress, investors and political watchers will soon lose a window into his financial moves. Members of Congress are legally required to disclose their trades, but once Crenshaw leaves the House, that transparency curtain falls.
He hasn't announced what's next for him. But given this demonstrated knack for picking winners in the market, maybe a future in finance isn't out of the question. For now, it's a classic case of one door closing in politics while several others in his portfolio are swinging wide open.
