Crypto-Backed PACs Pour $1.5M Into Three State Races After Michigan Primary Defeat
Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress, two crypto-aligned PACs, have committed over $1.5 million toward media buys in multiple House and Senate contests leading up to primary elections scheduled for Aug. 18.
A pair of organizations connected to Fairshake, a political action committee (PAC) funded by cryptocurrency companies, have revealed expenditures exceeding $1.5 million on media campaigns to back candidates for the Senate and House of Representatives in Wyoming, Alaska and Florida following a Tuesday primary defeat in Michigan.
Federal Election Commission (FEC) documents filed through Thursday show that Protect Progress and Defend American Jobs, both affiliated with the Fairshake PAC, collectively allocated $1.5 million toward advertising campaigns for candidates from both major political parties, a significant portion of whom cast votes supporting the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act during their time in Congress.
For Alaska's at-large congressional district, where a primary is set for Aug. 18, Defend American Jobs allocated more than $500,000 toward media campaigns backing Representative Nick Begich's re-election effort. The Super PAC made approximately equivalent expenditures for Republican contender Sydney Gruters competing in Florida's 16th district, along with Representative Harriet Hageman, who is seeking the Wyoming Senate seat that will soon be vacated by current occupant Cynthia Lummis. Primary elections in both of these US states are also scheduled for Aug. 18.
These documented spending reports come on the heels of a primary defeat for a candidate backed by Protect Progress in Michigan's 13th Congressional District. During Tuesday's primary, incumbent Democrat Shri Thanedar was defeated by State Representative Donavan McKinney, despite the Super PAC investing more than $2 million in media campaigns supporting Thanedar. His current Congressional term is set to conclude in January 2027.
On the Democratic side of the ledger, Protect Progress documented expenditures exceeding $50,000 to support the re-election campaign of Lois Frankel in Florida's 23rd district. During their service in Congress, Frankel, Begich and Hageman all cast affirmative votes for both the GENIUS Act and CLARITY Act, whereas Gruters appeared to have made no public pronouncements regarding crypto or blockchain technology, aside from indicating her support for the crypto market structure bill in a survey administered by advocacy group Stand With Crypto.
These spending decisions represent the most recent instances of Fairshake and other cryptocurrency industry-aligned organizations seeking to shape US elections through media campaigns. Throughout the 2024 US election cycle, the Super PAC has documented expenditures surpassing $170 million on Senate and House contests, with the potential to alter the composition of the current Congress.
CLARITY votes to influence 2026 midterms?
Although uncertainty remained as of Thursday regarding whether the US Senate would conduct a vote on the CLARITY Act prior to commencing a month-long recess, the manner in which lawmakers vote on the measure could determine whether the crypto industry actively campaigns for or against their re-election efforts. The 2026 midterm elections will feature all 435 House seats up for election, alongside 33 seats in the US Senate.
Back in January, Stand With Crypto declared that its "primary goal" for 2026 was securing the passage of crypto market structure legislation through Congress. Mason Lynaugh, the organization's community director, informed Cointelegraph during a November interview that lawmakers' votes on the bill could have implications for their re-election prospects. Stand With Crypto evaluates political candidates using a rating system ranging from "strongly supports crypto" to "strongly against crypto" based on their voting histories and public declarations, information that may be utilized by PACs and organizations when determining fund allocation strategies.