Crypto’s top political action committee has put money on its picks for the Florida congressional seats vacated by one of President-elect Donald Trump’s closest allies, Matt Gaetz, and the politician Trump tapped as national security adviser, Michael Waltz.
With an extremely narrow majority in the House of Representatives, the replacement of the two Florida Republicans is paramount on the party’s political agenda in Congress. Crypto super PAC Fairshake — through its affiliate PAC, Defend American Jobs — has begun spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on pro-crypto names in the special elections to fill the seats.
Gaetz was briefly President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. attorney general — the nation’s top law enforcement official — but he withdrew from consideration and from Congress as pressure mounted from a House ethics investigation into his alleged payments for drugs and sex (including a report on sexual activity with a 17-year-old).
Trump turned to embrace the state’s chief financial officer, Jimmy Patronis, as his preferred candidate to fill the resulting opening in the House of Representatives. Patronis, who is besting a crowded field of Republican rivals in the Jan. 28 primary, is benefiting from about $200,000 in advertising spending from Fairshake, the group said.
In October, Patronis pushed to put some state pension money into crypto investments.
The PAC also committed about $500,000 to have state Sen. Randy Fine fill Rep. Waltz’s vacancy. Trump also endorsed Fine in an endorsement that reportedly scattered a number of potential competitors.
The candidate wrote on social media X this week that “Floridians want crypto innovation!”
Super PACs can buy ads for or against candidates as long as they are “independent expenditures” not endorsed or coordinated by the candidates. Fairshake spent $139 million to help get 53 allies into the new session of Congress, so one in ten sitting lawmakers benefited from crypto-funded ads.
“We’re keeping our foot on the gas,” Fairshake spokesman Josh Vlasto said Friday.
The PAC still has a whopping $103 million in funds at its disposal for the next congressional election cycle, putting it well ahead of the 2026 races.
Read more: Crypto Cash powered 53 members of the next US Congress
