Crypto PACs spend over $1.5 million in three U.S. states to support candidates

ME News reports that, on August 7 (UTC+8), the political action committees Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress, associated with the cryptocurrency company-backed Fairshake, have collectively spent over $1.5 million to support House and Senate candidates in Florida, Alaska, and Wyoming ahead of the August 18 primaries. Federal Election Commission filings show that Defend American Jobs has invested over $500,000 in Alaska’s at-large congressional district to support Representative Nick Begich’s re-election; the Super PAC has also contributed comparable amounts to Republican candidate Sydney Gruters in Florida’s 16th district and to Harriet Hageman, a candidate for Wyoming’s Senate seat. Protect Progress disclosed spending over $50,000 in Florida’s 23rd district to support Lois Frankel’s re-election. Frankel, Begich, and Hageman all voted in favor of the GENIUS Act and CLARITY Act during their time in Congress. These expenditures follow the defeat of the Protect Progress-backed candidate in Michigan’s 13th congressional district, where the Super PAC had previously invested over $2 million in incumbent Democratic Representative Shri Thanedar, who lost the primary to state representative Donavan McKinney. (Source: ODAILY)