Fairshake-Backed Candidates Win California, New Jersey, And South Dakota Primaries

Crypto-backed political action committees affiliated with Fairshake backed candidates who won primaries across California, New Jersey, and South Dakota on Tuesday, with Democratic Jacqui Irwin, Ted Lieu, Zoe Lofgren, and others taking California House seats.

“Table of Contents Crypto-backed political action committees delivered a clean sweep in Tuesday primaries across several states”

Blockonomi

The spending behind the wins included Protect Progress and Defend American Jobs spending about a combined $3.5 million on media, after Fairshake reported a $193 million budget in January.

Blockonomi

Fairshake spokesperson Geoff Vetter told Cointelegraph, "America needs members of Congress who will act to lay out responsible guardrails for the community to maintain our global leadership."

The same coverage said Protect Progress had spent more than $3.1 million as of Wednesday to support Democratic candidate Adrian Boafo in Maryland’s 5th Congressional district, scheduled to hold a primary on June 23.

In parallel, industry leaders announced a new hybrid PAC called Defend Developers, described as supporting "incumbent members of Congress who actively champion developer protections and crypto builders."

Defend Developers’ founder Gavin Zavatone framed the effort as a response to regulatory uncertainty, saying, "For too long, developers building decentralized technologies have faced regulatory uncertainty and enforcement actions instead of clear rules and guidelines."

Cointelegraph reported that Defend Developers’ board of directors includes "CEOs, CLOs, and policy leaders at top crypto organizations, including DeFi Education Fund, Orca Creative, Solana Policy Institute, and Uniswap Labs."

CoinDesk

The CoinDesk account said the PAC would support lawmakers who seek to "shield cryptocurrency developers from legal vulnerabilities," and described it as a hybrid PAC that can make direct contributions within Federal Election Commission limits.

CoinDesk also said Defend Developers is registered at the federal level and that Zavatone leads policy at the DeFi Education Fund, while the board includes members from Uniswap Labs, DEF, and the Solana Policy Institute.

In the same reporting, Fairshake’s recent primary election wins were tied to its broader influence, with CoinDesk noting it backed nine Democratic candidates for the U.S. House in California, one in New Jersey, and Republican Mike Rounds for the U.S. Senate in South Dakota.

The next test for Fairshake and its affiliates is Maryland’s primary cycle, with FEC filings cited as showing Protect Progress spending more than $3.1 million on media backing Adrian Boafo in Maryland’s 5th district, scheduled for June 23.

Beyond Maryland, the same reporting tied the broader political push to federal digital-asset legislation, noting that after approval by the Senate Agriculture Committee in January and the Senate Banking Committee in May, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act was added to the Senate calendar for possible consideration.

Cointelegraph also described Fairshake’s strategy as targeting lawmakers based on their crypto policy positions, and said Protect Progress backs Democrats while Defend American Jobs backs Republicans.

In California, the Guardian reported that Francesco Trebbi said, "This money is flowing in the direction of politicians that can be influential in defining the regulatory agenda for the next five years," linking campaign spending to regulatory leverage.

The Guardian’s account also highlighted the scale of disclosed spending, including that Google co-founder Sergey Brin has spent $82m since January to fight a billionaire tax up for a vote on the November ballot, and that Chris Larsen funded three Super Pacs with $26m to sway campaigns across California.