A cryptocurrency industry super PAC is dropping millions of dollars to help House Republicans hold two seats in Florida special elections on April 1.
The spending from Defend American Jobs (DAJ) comes as the House GOP holds a narrow majority of five seats in the chamber, votes that will be critical as the caucus tries to pass major pieces of the Trump agenda, including legislation championed by the crypto industry for lighter regulatory oversight. The ad support from DAJ makes it the second-highest spending outside group in both Florida races.
DAJ is the Republican-backing affiliate of the crypto company-funded Fairshake network that spent a whopping $133 million during the 2024 election cycle to knock off candidates it deemed anti-crypto. The Fairshake network was formed in 2023 and rocketed to become one of the highest outside spenders in all federal races that cycle. After the outside spending giants aligned with presidential candidates and congressional leaders, only the flagship super PACs of Elon Musk and Charles Koch spent more last cycle.
The Fairshake network announced in January that it had a hefty $116 million in cash on hand, and that its major backers including Coinbase, Ripple Labs, and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) were again opening their wallets to help elect more pro-crypto candidates.
In Florida’s Sixth Congressional District, Republican state senator and gambling industry consultant Randy Fine faces Democratic candidate Josh Weil for the seat formerly held by Michael Waltz, now Trump’s national security advisor. Weil, a public school teacher, has hugely outraised Fine and has been polling well in a conservative district that turned out for Waltz by 30 points in November. The special election, shaping up to be more competitive than expected, has become a proxy skirmish over the Trump administration’s agenda in Congress.
