Source: Cointelegraph Original: "{title}"
Two Republican candidates are making a final appeal to voters in Florida's congressional districts with the support of at least $1.5 million in media spending from a cryptocurrency-backed political action committee (PAC).
On April 1, voters in Florida's First and Sixth Congressional Districts will head to the polls to decide whether to continue Republican representation or hand control to the Democrats for the first time in nearly 30 years. The Defend American Jobs PAC—an affiliate of Fairshake (which has invested over $131 million in the 2024 U.S. election cycle)—has contributed a total of $1.5 million to media campaigns for Republicans Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine, who are facing off against Democrats Gay Valimont and Josh Weil.
Source: Gay Valimont for Congress
Although these Florida congressional districts have historically leaned towards Republican candidates, as of March, Democrats Valimont and Weil have significantly out-fundraised Patronis and Fine—reportedly raising about $6.5 million and $10 million, respectively, while the Republican candidates each raised $1 million. These amounts do not include media spending from PACs like Defend American Jobs or from Tesla CEO Elon Musk's America PAC, which has spent over $20,000 on text messaging services for these two congressional races.
As of March 31, there are four vacant seats in the U.S. House of Representatives due to the deaths of two Democratic lawmakers and the resignations of two Republicans who are expected to join the Trump administration. If Democrats can hold onto their existing two seats and flip these two in Florida, the Republican majority in the House would shrink to 217 to 218—though this would not change the majority party's control, it could affect how the House deliberates on legislation and policy.
Legislation related to cryptocurrency currently under consideration in Congress includes market structure bills and stablecoin regulation bills. Some lawmakers have indicated they plan to pass these two bills before Congress adjourns in August.
Michigan Congressman Shri Thanedar (Democrat, who claims to primarily self-fund and may benefit from funding from cryptocurrency-backed PACs in the 2024 campaign) spoke to Cointelegraph on March 27 about the potential impact of the industry on future elections.
Another Fairshake affiliate PAC—Protect Progress—has invested over $1 million in media buys to support this Michigan representative in the August 2024 primary. He defeated Republican Martell Bivings with 68% of the vote in November.
“I was surprised to see those ads,” Thanedar told Cointelegraph, referring to Protect Progress's media campaign. “I didn’t know there would be such ads supporting my campaign.”
The Michigan lawmaker added:
“The cryptocurrency industry is not an exception. There are multiple industries […] that have PACs and super PACs and independent expenditures. All this money, the dark money in our politics, needs to be eliminated. As long as there is dark money in our politics, it will influence our politicians.”
After many candidates supporting "pro-cryptocurrency" views win in the 2024 elections, Fairshake spokesperson Josh Vlasto stated that the PAC will “continue to maintain momentum” in the future. Major companies like Coinbase and Ripple Labs have contributed tens of millions of dollars to this PAC.
As of January, Fairshake reported holding over $116 million to support candidates in 2025 and 2026. Vlasto declined to comment on the special election on April 1 but stated that after the January primaries, the PAC expressed “pride in supporting [Patronis and Fine] through television advertising campaigns.”
Related: Argentine poll shows 57% of the public distrust President Milei after LIBRA scandal.
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