Crypto PACs spend $7.2M to support candidates in 5 US states ahead of elections

Political action committees (PACs) affiliated with the cryptocurrency company-backed Fairshake reported spending millions of dollars to support candidates in five races, with less than six months until US voters decide on their representatives in Congress.

According to filings with the Federal Election Commission this week, the Protect Progress PAC reported about a combined $1.6 million in expenditures for Jasmine Clark and Christian Menefee, Democrats running to represent Georgia’s 13th Congressional district and Texas’ 18th district, respectively. 

The reported media buys came before Clark will face a May 19 Democratic primary and Menefee a May 26 runoff against Representative Al Green, who is running for a 12th term in office. Protect Progress claimed that Green was “actively hostile towards a growing Texas crypto community,” pledging to spend $1.5 million to oppose his reelection to Congress.

Protect Progress, a Fairshake affiliate, typically focuses on Democratic candidates, while another affiliate, Defend American Jobs, supports Republicans. The Defend American Jobs PAC similarly reported spending $5.6 million on candidates in Georgia’s 1st and 14th districts, Nebraska’s 3rd district and US Senate races in Alabama and Kentucky. All four US states are scheduled to hold May primaries.

Related: Americans distrust crypto, AI as industry super PACs flood midterms, poll finds

Among Defend American Jobs’ expenditures, Andy Barr, running for the US Senate in Kentucky and currently a US House representative for the state’s 6th district, received the most support, with more than $3.5 million in media. Barr has made many public statements favoring pro-crypto policies while in Congress, and voted in favor of legislation, including the GENIUS Act and CLARITY Act.

Source: Andy Barr

Fairshake, which reported holding $193 million as of January, has already spent millions of dollars in an attempt to influence voters through the media in the 2026 primaries. The Defend American Jobs PAC spent about $514,000 on advertising supporting Republican James Baird’s reelection in Indiana, and poured millions into media for Texas and Illinois races this year.

Crypto market structure bill could impact candidates’ midterm chances

For many crypto-supporting lawmakers and industry leaders, the progress of a digital asset market structure bill, called the CLARITY Act, could prove to be a litmus test for the 2026 midterm elections. Fairshake and its affiliates spent more than $130 million on media to support or oppose candidates in 2024, potentially influencing voters and changing the makeup of the current Congress, which will decide crypto-related laws.

“I do think it is critically important that every single member of Congress have a position on crypto, it’s part of their election campaign and their platform, and voters are going to be paying attention to this,” Cody Carbone, CEO of crypto advocacy organization The Digital Chamber, told Cointelegraph.

Last week, lawmakers in the US Senate announced a compromise on stablecoin yield that could allow the CLARITY Act to move forward for markup in the Senate Banking Committee, whose approval is necessary before a full floor vote. As of Thursday, the committee had not scheduled a markup on the bill.

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