Republican

David Vance

Joe Biden

Protect Progress, a political action committee (PAC) affiliated with Fairshake and backed by crypto companies, has thrown at least $1.7M behind two Democratic candidates running for Congress in Arizona.&nbsp;
Cointelegraph reported on July 18 that Protect Progress <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-super-pac-media-buy-arizona-democrat">disseminated more than $1.3 million</a> in a media buy to support Yassamin Ansari, a Democrat competing for a seat representing Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District. 
In addition, a July 20 filing with the Federal Election Commission <a href="https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg/?202407209661447564" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">showed</a> the Super PAC used roughly $415,000 as part of a media buy for Andrei Cherny, who is running in the state’s 1st Congressional District.
Unlike Arizona’s 3rd, which is one of the most Democratic districts in the state, the 1st is currently represented by Republican David Schweikert. Many political pundits also see Arizona as a swing state in the 2024 US Presidential Election. Both media buys came ahead of a July 30 primary for Democrats. 
Cherny co-founded the financial firm Aspiration and served as its CEO until 2022. In 2021, his company partnered with NFT marketplace Curcio, bringing “greater sustainability to crypto,” <a href="https://x.com/AndreiCherny/status/1379536779724742660" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">according</a> to the then-CEO. Coinbase’s Stand With Crypto <a href="https://www.standwithcrypto.org/politicians/person/andrei---cherny" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">said</a> the Democratic candidate had “demonstrated support for crypto and digital assets.” 
<h2 id="competitive-race">Competitive race</h2>
Six Democratic candidates, including Amish Shah, a former state representative, are running in the July 30 Arizona primary. In 2022, Shah <a href="https://legiscan.com/AZ/rollcall/HB2204/id/1219223" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">voted</a> against an Arizona House bill to clarify income tax issues around crypto and non-fungible tokens. A June poll from Noble Predictive Insights <a href="https://www.noblepredictiveinsights.com/post/the-race-is-on-azcd01-democratic-primary" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">showed</a> Shah neck and neck with Cherny. 
According to Protect Progress’ website, the committee “supports Democratic candidates committed to securing the United States as the home to innovators building the next generation of the internet.” The group is affiliated with the Fairshake Super PAC, which funded attack ads against Democratic candidates in California and New York. 
In April, Protect Progress spent around $3.7 million to support Democrats Shomari Figures in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District and Julie Johnson in Texas’ 32nd Congressional District. The two will face off against Republican candidates in their respective races in November.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/super-pac-attack-ad-new-york-democrat">Crypto Super PAC spends $2M on attack ad targeting NY lawmaker</a>
A Fairshake spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the PAC had <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-super-pac-donation-jump-crypto">raised roughly $169 million</a> from firms including Coinbase and Ripple. As the Nov. 5 election approaches, it’s unclear which candidates the group will next focus its money and efforts on in the United States. 
On the national stage, US President Joe Biden made headlines on July 21 for announcing over social media that he <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/joe-biden-withdraws-united-states-presidential-race">would not run</a>&nbsp;for a second term. Democratic leaders have rallied behind Vice President Kamala Harris, now the presumptive party nominee. 
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/crypto-voters-are-already-affecting-the-2024-presidential-election/">Crypto voters are already disrupting the 2024 election — and it’s set to continue</a>

Crypto Super PAC spends $1.7M on media buys as Arizona primary looms

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