- Four of five candidates backed by the crypto-aligned PAC Fairshake won primaries or advanced on Tuesday, with $3.6 million in ad spending across Alaska, Florida, and Wyoming.
- Democrat Oliver Gilbert won Florida’s 24th district primary despite $2 million in negative ads from Fairshake-affiliated Protect Progress, calling the industry “crypto con artists.”
- Fairshake holds a $193 million war chest and has spent $82 million on 2026 races, aiming to build “the largest pro-crypto Congress in history.”
- The Senate is expected to address the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act in September, a bill that could establish comprehensive crypto regulations.
Four of five candidates backed by ads funded by the cryptocurrency-aligned PAC Fairshake won their primaries or advanced on Tuesday, potentially signaling the industry’s growing influence ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. On Tuesday, Democratic and Republican candidates supported by media from Fairshake-affiliated PACs Protect Progress and Defend American Jobs notched wins across Alaska, Florida, and Wyoming, with the groups spending about $3.6 million on House and Senate races.
Democrat Lois Frankel won re-election in Florida’s 23rd district after Protect Progress spent more than $150,000 on supportive media. Defend American Jobs also spent a combined $1.5 million on ads supporting Republican Nick Begich in Alaska, Sydney Gruters in Florida’s 16th district, and Representative Harriet Hageman for Senate in Wyoming; Gruters and Hageman won their primaries, while Begich is expected to advance.
However, Democrat Oliver Gilbert won Florida’s 24th district despite being the target of more than $2 million in negative ads from Protect Progress. According to results, Gilbert defeated challengers Shevrin Jones and Kendrick Meek with 34.4% of the vote. In a Miami Herald report from Aug. 12, Gilbert said “[Donald] Trump’s tech billionaire buddies” were behind the “crypto con artists trying to buy a Democratic primary” through the ads. The news outlet reported the ads included fake headlines misrepresenting Gilbert’s policy positions, though a Fairshake spokesperson claimed “the underlying facts in our ad are true.”
Fairshake, which reported a $193 million war chest as of January, funded more than $130 million in ads during the 2024 cycle and has spent over $82 million on 2026 races so far. Spokesperson Geoff Vetter said the PAC was “just getting started building the largest pro-crypto Congress in history” following Tuesday’s results. Meanwhile, the Senate is expected to address a cloture motion on the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act in September, a bill that passed the House with bipartisan support but faces ethics concerns from Senate Democrats over the Trump family’s crypto investments.
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