New York, Maryland and Utah to Hold Primaries with Crypto PAC Money Hanging over Voters

Crypto-backed PACs disclosed spending more than $8 million on media to support candidates in three US states, as some Maryland Democrats have called on one candidate to reject “outside spending from crypto billionaires.”

Political action committees (PACs) backed by cryptocurrency companies and aligned interest groups have bet more than $8 million to support candidates in Tuesday’s primaries across three US states, which could impact the makeup of the country’s Congress in 2027.

As of Monday, the Protect Progress PAC, an affiliate of Fairshake that supports Democratic candidates, reported spending more than $516,000 on media for April McClain Delaney, running in Maryland’s 6th congressional district. However, much of the PAC’s attention has been focused on two races in Maryland and New York, where it reported combined expenditures of more than $5.5 million and $1.4 million, respectively, for primary races in the states’ 5th and 15th congressional districts, for Adrian Boafo and Ritchie Torres.

Filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) showed that Protect Progress had spent about $24,000 on ads to oppose Quincy Bareebe and $74,000 for media opposing Harry Dunn, both running against Boafo in Maryland’s 5th district. Dunn and Bareebe, along with Rushern Baker, who is running in the same primary, issued a statement on June 15 against what they called the “influence of dark money and special interests” in the race:

Defend American Jobs, another Fairshake affiliate, reported spending more than $400,000 on Republican Blake Moore’s primary in Utah’s 2nd congressional district. All expenditures followed what a Fairshake spokesperson called the “biggest spend of the cycle” in last week’s Alabama primary runoff, resulting in a win for Republican Barry Moore after the PAC spent more than $12 million on ads.

Related: NYSE owner ICE to launch oil-linked futures with OKX

The Fellowship PAC, another committee backed by $11 million from Cantor Fitzgerald and Anchorage, disclosed $300,000 in spending to support Torres’ New York run.

With the three US state primaries to be decided on Tuesday, many expect Fairshake and other crypto-aligned PACs to turn their attention to Colorado and Arizona, which are scheduled to hold primaries on June 30 and July 21, respectively.

As of Monday, none of the PACs had disclosed significant spending in any congressional races in the two US states. However, in 2024, Fairshake and its affiliates poured more than $10 million into media to support Ruben Gallego’s Senate race in Arizona and $2.1 million for Democratic Representative Yadira Caraveo in Colorado’s 8th district.

Magazine: Bitcoin decouples from tech stocks, Ether eyes ‘selling wave’: Market Moves

Cointelegraph is committed to providing independent, high-quality journalism across the crypto, blockchain, AI, and fintech industries.

All news, reviews, and analyses are produced with full journalistic independence and integrity. For more details on our standards and processes, please read our Editorial Policy .

新闻图片