Crypto PAC-Supported Candidates Sweep US State Primaries after Media Buys

[Update (June 3 at 8:01 pm UTC): This article has been updated to include a response from Fairshake in the fourth paragraph.]

Democratic and Republican candidates across California, New Jersey and South Dakota won their respective primaries on Tuesday after being the beneficiaries of supportive ads purchased by cryptocurrency industry-backed political action committees (PACs).

On Tuesday, Democrats Jacqui Irwin, Ted Lieu, Zoe Lofgren, Dave Min, Mike McGuire, Hilda Solis, George Whitesides, Lou Correa and Lateefah Simon won their respective California primaries for House seats. Democrat Rob Menendez and Republican Mike Rounds also won primaries for New Jersey’s 8th congressional district and a South Dakota Senate seat, respectively.

Selection of results after Tuesday’s primaries for California House seats. Source: CalMatters

The political wins came after the Protect Progress and Defend American Jobs PACs spent about a combined $3.5 million on media to support the candidates. The groups are affiliated with Fairshake, a political action committee funded largely by cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and Ripple Labs that reported having a war chest of $193 million in January.

“America needs members of Congress who will act to lay out responsible guardrails for the community to maintain our global leadership,” Fairshake spokesperson Geoff Vetter told Cointelegraph.

The PAC spending came on the heels of similar buys for supportive media in Texas runoff primaries last week, which resulted in Democrat Christian Menefee defeating incumbent US Representative Al Green, and four Republican candidates winning primaries in smaller House districts. Many of the candidates in the state races have supported advancing digital assets, either through voting on “pro-crypto” legislation while in office like the GENIUS Act or in public statements.

Related: PACs laud Texas primary wins, look to back more pro-crypto candidates

Maryland is shaping up to be the next focus for Fairshake and its affiliates. Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings showed Protect Progress had spent more than $3.1 million as of Wednesday to support Democratic candidate Adrian Boafo in Maryland’s 5th Congressional district, which is scheduled to hold a primary on June 23.

Crypto advocacy organizations back new developer-focused PAC

On Wednesday, industry leaders announced the launch of Defend Developers, a hybrid PAC that will support “incumbent members of Congress who actively champion developer protections and crypto builders.” According to the group, Defend Developers’ board of directors includes “CEOs, CLOs, and policy leaders at top crypto organizations, including DeFi Education Fund, Orca Creative, Solana Policy Institute, and Uniswap Labs.”

“For too long, developers building decentralized technologies have faced regulatory uncertainty and enforcement actions instead of clear rules and guidelines,” said the PAC’s founder, Gavin Zavatone. “While legislation and rulemakings are being written as we speak, for some policymakers there is limited incentive to understand the fundamental nature of software development.”

No official data available on Defend Developers as of Wednesday. Source: FEC

The FEC portal did not show any funding or expenditure activity, as of Wednesday. Nick Stoltzfus, co-CEO of on-chain student loan digital asset platform Stratofied, was listed as treasurer and custodian of records in the PAC’s statement of organization on May 15.

The PAC did not say where or how it would focus its efforts as part of the 2026 US midterms other than “key races across the country.” Cointelegraph reached out to Defend Developers for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

Magazine: Korea’s first memecoin rug-pull case, China’s crypto rules review: Asia Express