Crypto PAC Drops Another $1M Into Michigan Primary, Because Congress Needs More Stablecoin Stablemates 🏦

Protect Progress PAC, an affiliate of the Fairshake network largely funded by Ripple Labs and Coinbase, has poured an additional $1 million-plus into Michigan's 13th Congressional District primary, pushing its total media spending past a combined $2 million, according to Federal Election Commission filings as of Thursday. The latest disclosures show $884,240 backing Democratic Representative Shri Thanedar and more than $150,000 opposing his challenger Donavan McKinney, effectively doubling what the PAC had reported spending a week earlier. The Michigan primary is scheduled for Tuesday.

Thanedar, who has voted in favor of the stablecoin-focused GENIUS Act and the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act currently under consideration in the Senate, also cosponsored the Promoting Innovation in Blockchain Development Act. In a July 21 statement on the outside spending, McKinney said "the crypto lobby is paying my opponent back for helping Trump make over $1 billion since taking office," a reference to President Donald Trump's disclosure that he earned more than $1.4 billion from crypto investments in 2025, including from the Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin and the family-linked World Liberty Financial. Cointelegraph reached out to the Thanedar and McKinney campaigns for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

Fairshake, the parent PAC, reported a $193 million war chest as of January and was responsible for more than $170 million in media spending during the 2024 US election cycle supporting candidates it deemed aligned with crypto industry policies. Public Citizen reported in June that Fairshake and its affiliates accounted for more than $82 million of the roughly $189 million crypto companies had deployed in the 2026 election cycle, with Michigan among the targets alongside Texas, Illinois, Alabama and Washington.

Beyond Michigan, the Fairshake affiliate Defend American Jobs PAC spent more than $65,000 on media supporting a Republican candidate in Washington's 4th Congressional District, which also holds its primary Tuesday. Alabama, with primaries set for Aug. 11, has likewise drawn Fairshake attention, according to FEC filings. The Michigan filings bring Protect Progress's reported support for Thanedar and opposition to McKinney into sharp relief as one of the largest single-district crypto-industry commitments of the 2026 cycle to date.