Media outlets have reported the outcomes of three primary races in Missouri and Michigan, influenced by contributions from the Fairshake Super PAC or its affiliates, with a fourth race in Washington still undecided.
As of August 7, reports confirmed that Democrat Wesley Bell defeated incumbent Cori Bush in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District primary, Bob Onder secured the Republican nomination for Missouri’s 3rd, and Shri Thanedar won the Democratic primary in Michigan’s 13th. Votes were still being counted for the Democratic primary in Washington’s 6th Congressional District at the time of publication.
Fairshake and its affiliates, the Defend American Jobs PAC and the Protect Progress PAC, invested approximately $4 million combined into these four primary races to support pro-crypto candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives or oppose those with anti-crypto stances. Of this, $1.4 million was spent on opposing Bush, $250,000 on supporting Onder, and $1 million on supporting Thanedar.
“Cori Bush has now become the latest anti-crypto, Elizabeth Warren-endorsed lawmaker to lose their seat in Congress,” stated Fairshake spokesperson Josh Vlasto. “The crypto and blockchain community will continue to support candidates who believe in innovation and job creation.”
In Washington’s 6th Congressional District, Emily Randall, supported by a $1.5 million media buy from Protect Progress, was leading with roughly 62% of votes counted. If victorious, she could face Republican Drew MacEwen in the November general election.
Hilary Franz, trailing against MacEwen and Randall, criticized the influence of Super PACs on X during the primary night. Her campaign manager, Eve Zhurbinskiy, had previously suggested that Protect Progress was a “MAGA-funded Super PAC” aiming “to buy members of Congress” with financial influence.
“Out-of-state Super PACs spent over $2.4 million to buy this seat,” Franz said on August 6. “Despite this unprecedented influx of dark money, our volunteers and supporters have kept this race too close to call.”
These August 6 races followed earlier primaries in Arizona, where Fairshake-backed candidates lost on July 30. Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress invested $1 million in media buys for Republican Blake Masters and Democrat Andrei Cherny, but both were defeated within their respective parties.
In Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District, Protect Progress spent around $1.3 million to support Democrat Yassamin Ansari over Raquel Terán. At the time of publication, the race was extremely close, likely heading to a recount, with Ansari leading by fewer than 100 votes.
