Crypto Super PAC Spends $2M on Attack Ads Targeting NY Legislature
Fairshake Group, a political action committee (PAC) backed by crypto organizations including Ripple and Coinbase, spent more than $2 million in the Democratic primary for New York's 16th Congressional District.
According to the United States Federal Election Commission, Fairshack has spent more than $2 million on a media campaign opposing the re-election of Democratic Rep. Jamal Bowman. In the year As of June 16, outside interest groups have contributed nearly $9 million to Bowman, who will face Democrat George Latimer in the June 25 primary.
Faircheck's attack ad, which didn't specifically mention crypto or blockchain, said Rep. Bowman spent his career “pushing dangerous conspiracy theories.” In opposition ads previously funded by a separate super PAC, high-profile Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortz, have endorsed Bowman's re-election.
According to congressional records, Representative Bowman voted against the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century (FIT21) Act – with 71 Democrats and 208 Republicans in the House of Representatives – the CBDC anti-surveillance state law, and the Securities and Exchange Commission's handling of crypto on banks. Joint resolution repealing Commission Act. Latimer, who served in the New York State Senate from 2013 to 2018, has made few, if any, public statements on digital assets.
Moy Vela, former director of administration for then-Vice President Biden, told Cointelegraph that such attacks were an “effective tool” for rallying voters, but he encouraged PACs to focus on legislation, not individual candidates for office. Cointelegraph reached out to Fairshack, but the team declined to comment on the matter:
“Our focus is on supporting candidates on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers who will stop playing politics and enact clear and responsible rules of the road. […]”
Money in politics
Fairshack may have already influenced the US election. Rep. Katie Porter of California lost her Senate primary race in March after being targeted by a super PAC ad that said she took campaign contributions from “big pharma, big oil and big bank executives.” Rep. Porter later said the crypto industry tried to “bury the talk” on digital assets through media buyouts.
Related: ‘Flood of money' from crypto Super PACs could be a challenge for Elizabeth Warren.
Less than five months before the election day in the United States, the crypto industry continues to be involved in politics. One of Fairshake's early backers, Coinbase, donated another $25 million to the super PAC in June, bringing its total funding to about $160 million. Crypto mining executives also launched a project to initially educate voters on Bitcoin (BTC) and later influence US elections.
Major party presidential candidates include US President Joe Biden, Republican Donald Trump – who faces 34 felony convictions in July – independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and libertarian Chase Oliver. President Biden and Trump are scheduled to hold a televised debate on June 27 before their election.
Magazine: Crypto voters are rocking the 2024 election — and it's set to continue.
