After spending more than $10 million in a successful attempt to defeat Democrats US Senate candidate In California earlier this week, a cash-rich, crypto-funded political action committee set its sights on a few other key Senate races that could determine the balance of power in Congress.
The political action committee, Fairshake, will focus the rest of its efforts this election cycle on four U.S. Senate races in Ohio, Montana, Maryland and Michigan, Fairshake spokesman Josh Vlasto confirmed. Decryption.
Fairshake — which has raised more than $85 million so far, primarily from major cryptocurrency companies Coinbase, Ripple Labs and Andreessen Horowitz — will spend on ads in the general Senate elections in Ohio and Montana, and in the Democratic Senate primaries in Maryland and Michigan.
Both Ohio and Montana are home to vulnerable Democratic senators who are up for reelection in states that Donald Trump will win in 2020 — and both senators have previously made comments critical of cryptocurrencies.
Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown introduced a nationwide resolution Block encryption In December 2022, amid the fallout from the historic collapse of FTX. During the same month, Montana Senator Jon Tester He said He saw “there is no reason to exist” for cryptocurrencies.
But importantly, Fairshake has not announced that it will support campaigns against the two senators. Instead, the PAC has only said that it will have a presence, one way or another, in their general election races — meaning that Brown or Tester could still theoretically win PAC support if they change course quickly enough to pro-crypto positions. Enough.
Fairshake did not say when it would decide which candidate to support in the Ohio and Montana races, saying only that the organization views the elections holistically.
“Among other considerations, we will evaluate the candidate’s leadership on issues important to the cryptocurrency and blockchain community, the candidate’s viability, the importance of the election, and our ability to influence the race,” Vlasto said in a statement shared with. Decryption.
In Michigan, Vershaik will run in the Democratic Senate primary in August, with Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin leading the race. Slotkin, who has said little publicly about cryptocurrencies other than politicians You must reveal Their cryptocurrency deals, they face several Democratic challengers including Representative Hill Harper, who is former I launched the application Designed to encourage people of color to participate in cryptocurrencies.
In Maryland's Democratic Senate primary in May, David Trone, co-founder of liquor giant Total Wine, will face Angela Ashbrooks, a local politician. Neither candidate has mentioned cryptocurrencies on their campaign website or appear to have made public statements on the topic in the past.
Fairshake has also not yet announced which candidates she will support in Michigan or Maryland, but will only participate in those primaries.
With Democrats currently holding a razor-thin 51-49 majority in the Senate, any changes in those four races could easily tip the balance of power in Washington.
Given the influx of cryptocurrency industry money, Fairshake's leadership seems confident they can ensure that whoever wins in November, these politicians will advocate for the creation and adoption of cryptocurrencies. Unattainable Crypto industry regulations.
“We will have the resources to influence races and the makeup of organizations at all levels,” Fairshake's Vlasto said. “We will strategically leverage these assets to maximize their impact in order to build a sustainable bipartisan crypto and blockchain coalition.”
Edited by Andrew Hayward
