A conservative US political action committee supported by the Solana Policy Institute – the Sentinel Action Fund – has committed to a massive advertising spend on the political opponent of former Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat and prominent crypto-skeptic, who is trying to return to Washington in this year’s Ohio Senate election.
The Sentinel and its affiliated nonprofit, Right Vote, committed $8 million to Jon Husted, the Republican named to fill Vice President JD Vance’s seat, according to a statement Wednesday. The committee accused his opponent, Brown, who had been chairman of the Senate Banking Committee before losing his seat in 2024, of “standing in the way of pro-innovation policies when it comes to digital assets.”
The Super PAC is funded in part by the Solana Institute and crypto-venture firm Multicoin Capital, in addition to several high-profile financial figures such as Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, Ken Fisher of Fisher Investments, AQR Capital Management co-founder Cliff Asness and Paul Singer, the billionaire co-CEO of hedge fund Elliotts Management, which has a stake in Michael Straylor’s bitcoin Straoth.
However, the leading donor to the PAC is a nonprofit organization, Townsend Six Corp., which was established in late 2024 and supported by an $8 million contribution from an unidentified donor.
The Ohio election will be among the hotly contested Senate races that decide the majority of that chamber for next year. While the series of open seats had been difficult for Democrats, the decline in Republican popularity under President Donald Trump’s administration has given Democrats a chance to regain that majority.
While polling last year had indicated Husted had a strong lead over Brown, more recent polls have shown the race to be neck and neck.
Sentinel joins the crypto industry’s leading PAC, Fairshake, and this month’s fledgling Fellowship PAC, as entities supporting pro-digital asset candidates. When Brown was defeated in the 2024 election, Fairshake had committed $40 million to his opponent.
The Solana Policy Institute donated a total of $750,000 to the Sentinel Action Fund. However, the group has divided its party allegiance in its campaign spending. It gave $2 million to Republican congressional PACs and $1.5 million to Democratic PACs with opposing goals, according to Federal Election Commission records.
If Democrats win the Senate, the House, or both, it could change the course of crypto legislation, though the industry has gathered significant bipartisan support in Congress and is likely to add more names in November’s midterm elections.
