Crypto Backing or Trump Pump? Fairshake PAC Claims Primary Victories

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In brief - Fairshake claimed victory after six congressional candidates won Tuesday primaries with over $20 million in crypto industry support. - But all GOP winners had also received endorsements from Donald Trump, suggesting his influence carried the day. - Fairshake ran ads in the races that touted Trump's endorsements, but did not mention crypto. On Tuesday, crypto political action committee Fairshake claimed victory as six of its favored congressional candidates—backed by more than $20 million in industry money—won primary races across the country. But was crypto really a deciding factor in last night’s elections? Fairshake, which is principally bankrolled by Coinbase, Andreessen Horowitz, and Ripple, backed five GOP candidates and one Democrat in Tuesday’s midterm primaries. Of those five Republican candidates, every single one received the endorsement of President Donald Trump. Last night’s results proved the president’s enduring grip on the GOP base, even as his approval ratings slip to all-time lows among the broader electorate. In Kentucky, Trump’s handpicked challenger, retired Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, defeated Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), a popular lawmaker who attracted the president’s wrath after pushing for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files and criticizing America’s ongoing war with Iran. “Do not ever doubt President Trump and his political power,” Steven Cheung, the White House’s director of communications, said after the results came in. “Fuck around, find out.” Tuesday was widely seen as a referendum on Trump’s sway with engaged Republican primary voters—and in that regard, the president appeared to secure a decisive victory. In a statement, Fairshake celebrated the victories of its backed candidates on Tuesday as “a clear victory for pro-crypto leaders”. “This powerful bipartisan mandate is being heard across America from Georgia to Alabama to Kentucky,” a Fairshake spokesperson said. But every GOP primary winner supported by the crypto PAC—Alabama Senate candidate Barry Moore, Kentucky Senate candidate Andy Barr, and Georgia congressional candidates Houston Gaines, Jim Kingston, and Clay Fuller—had previously received the crucial endorsement of President Trump. The sole Democratic congressional candidate backed by Fairshake on Tuesday, Georgia’s Jasmine Clark, was previously locked in an intense race with Rep. David Scott, an incumbent who had served in the House for over 20 years. But Scott passed away at the age of 80 last month. Further highlighting crypto’s potential lack of influence on Tuesday’s races is the fact Fairshake ran zero ads in Tuesday’s races on the subject of digital assets. A source with knowledge of the campaigns supported by Fairshake, however, emphasized that the super PAC spent millions of dollars on ads emphasizing the president’s endorsements—a factor they argue made a significant impact. “Trump’s endorsement obviously matters a ton, but it also needs to be communicated to voters,” the source said. Fairshake’s nearly $200 million splurge on the 2026 midterms comes as special interest spending on U.S. elections surges to all-time highs. Tuesday’s high-profile unseating of Trump foe Massie was the most expensive House primary in American history, with a total ad spend exceeding $32 million for a district with a population under 800,000. Pro-Israel super PACs, which have sought to unseat Massie for years, made the single largest contribution to that gargantuan sum. But unlike with crypto, ads run by pro-Israel PACs in the Massie race actually mentioned Israel.

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