Crypto PAC Drops $362K on a Race Its Winner Already Won 🗳️

Protect Progress, an affiliate of the cryptocurrency-aligned Fairshake super political action committee, reported spending $362,000 on advertising to support a California Democrat whose victory in the same contest was secured in August. The expenditure, disclosed in a Sunday filing with the US Federal Election Commission, paid for media backing incumbent Democrat Aisha Wahab in California's 14th congressional district against fellow party member Melissa Hernandez. Wahab defeated Hernandez in an Aug. 18 special election with more than 53% of the vote, according to state results.

Both Wahab and Hernandez were rated "strongly supports crypto" by the digital asset organization Stand With Crypto after completing questionnaires ahead of the August election. That contest determined who would complete the term of Democrat Eric Swalwell, who resigned in April amid sexual assault allegations. The term ends January 2027. The Fairshake super PAC launched in 2023 with backing from Coinbase, Ripple Labs and Andreessen Horowitz and has spent tens of millions of dollars since the 2024 US elections on candidates it considers "pro-crypto."

During an Oct. 7 debate, Wahab said she opposed Hernandez for not denouncing spending from corporate political action committees aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, adding that the spending "really deteriorated our democracy." Cointelegraph requested comment from the Hernandez and Wahab campaigns and from Fairshake but did not receive immediate responses. The boundaries of California's 14th district will also change for the November midterms, expanding under the 2025 passage of the state's Proposition 50, which required new district maps.

Fairshake affiliates have continued spending in other competitive races. Defend American Jobs, a Fairshake affiliate that has largely supported Republican candidates, reported spending more than $6.7 million to oppose Independent candidate Dan Osborn in Nebraska's Senate race. The super PAC also reported $8 million in media spending in Ohio's Senate race to support an incumbent. Fairshake disclosed in January that it held $193 million in cash on hand ahead of the elections, after already deploying tens of millions of dollars in primaries and special elections.