Moore wins: crypto PACs drop $12M, pick up an extra senator 🏛️

Republican Barry Moore won Alabama's US Senate runoff on Tuesday with 55.8% of the vote over fellow Republican Jared Hudson, who received 44.2%, according to NBC News. The victory positions Moore, who represents Alabama's 1st Congressional district, as the GOP nominee for the seat being vacated by Senator Tommy Tuberville, who is running for governor. Moore will face Democrat Everett Wess in the general election.

Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show the cryptocurrency industry-aligned Defend American Jobs PAC, affiliated with Fairshake, spent more than $12 million on media and ads to back Moore's candidacy across the May 19 primary and Tuesday's runoff. That total included $4.7 million reported as of Tuesday for the runoff on top of $7.4 million spent ahead of the May 20 primary. The Coinbase-affiliated advocacy group Stand With Crypto rated Moore as "strongly supports crypto" based on public statements and his voting record, while rating Hudson as "neutral." Hudson publicly acknowledged that "Big Crypto" did not back his candidacy, though he has supported the crypto market structure bill under consideration in the US Senate.

"Our biggest spend of the cycle yielded yet another pro-innovation champion in the Senate, and with nearly $150 million cash on hand we are ready to continue driving the construction of the largest pro-crypto caucus in history," said Fairshake spokesperson Geoff Vetter. Fairshake reported holding a $193 million war chest as of January. The Fellowship PAC, backed by $11 million from Cantor Fitzgerald and Anchorage, disclosed $350,000 in spending to support Moore's run, while the Blockchain Leadership Fund, a hybrid PAC backed by Anchorage Digital and Chainlink, announced support for Moore in May but showed no related expenditures as of Tuesday, per FEC filings.

The Alabama race is the latest in a series of primary contests drawing significant crypto PAC spending. Fairshake affiliate Protect Progress reported $5.2 million and $587,000 in media buys supporting Maryland Democrat Adrian Boafo and New York Democrat Ritchie Torres in House primaries scheduled for June 23. Republicans currently hold slim majorities in both the House and Senate, and Moore's nomination adds a seat the industry counts as supportive of pending legislation including the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, which passed the House. With the Alabama runoff decided, crypto-aligned PACs will next focus on primaries later this month in Maryland and New York before the November general election.