Crypto PACs Pour $1.5M Into Three State Races After Primary Defeat

The Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress PACs reported spending more than $1.5 million on media campaigns across four House and Senate races ahead of the Aug. 18 primary elections.

Two groups affiliated with the cryptocurrency industry-backed political action committee (PAC) Fairshake disclosed more than $1.5 million in media spending to support House and Senate candidates in Florida, Alaska, and Wyoming after the organization suffered a primary election setback in Michigan on Tuesday.

According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings submitted as of Thursday, Fairshake-affiliated PACs Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress spent a combined $1.5 million on advertising for Republican and Democratic candidates, many of whom supported the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act while serving in Congress.

In Alaska’s at-large congressional district, where a primary is scheduled for Aug. 18, Defend American Jobs spent more than $500,000 on media backing Representative Nick Begich’s re-election campaign. The Super PAC also allocated roughly the same amount to support Republican candidate Sydney Gruters in Florida’s 16th Congressional District and Representative Harriet Hageman in her campaign for the Wyoming Senate seat that will soon be vacated by Cynthia Lummis. Primary elections in both states are also set for Aug. 18.

The reported spending comes after a primary election defeat for a Protect Progress-backed candidate in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District. On Tuesday, Democratic incumbent Shri Thanedar lost his primary race to State Representative Donavan McKinney, despite the Super PAC investing more than $2 million in media support for his campaign. Thanedar’s current term in Congress is set to end in January 2027.

On the Democratic side, Protect Progress disclosed spending more than $50,000 to support the re-election campaign of Lois Frankel in Florida’s 23rd Congressional District. While serving in Congress, Frankel, Begich and Hageman all voted in favor of the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act. Gruters, by contrast, has made few public comments on cryptocurrency or blockchain, though she indicated her support for the crypto market structure bill in a questionnaire conducted by the advocacy group Stand With Crypto.

The latest expenditures mark another example of Fairshake and other cryptocurrency industry-backed groups seeking to influence US elections through media campaigns. During the 2024 election cycle, the Super PAC reported spending more than $170 million on House and Senate races, potentially reshaping the composition of the current Congress.

Could CLARITY Act Votes Shape the 2026 Midterm Elections?#

As of Thursday, it remained unclear whether the US Senate would vote on the CLARITY Act before beginning its month-long recess. How lawmakers ultimately vote could influence whether the cryptocurrency industry chooses to support or oppose their re-election campaigns. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 33 seats in the US Senate will be contested in the 2026 elections.

In January, Stand With Crypto said its primary objective for 2026 was securing the passage of crypto market structure legislation through Congress. The organization’s community director, Mason Lynaugh, told in November that lawmakers’ votes on the bill could influence their re-election prospects. Stand With Crypto rates political candidates on a scale ranging from “strongly supports crypto” to “strongly against crypto,” based on their voting records and public statements, and those ratings may be used by PACs and advocacy groups when deciding how to allocate campaign funding.