An affiliate of political action committee (PAC) Fairshake, funded primarily by Coinbase and Ripple Labs, has poured more than $2 million into media opposing a Democratic candidate who did not appear to have taken any prominent position on digital assets before the ads were released.
According to records with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) as of Tuesday, the Protect Progress PAC had spent more than $2 million on ads opposing Democratic candidate Oliver Gilbert in Florida’s 24th congressional district. Notably, no candidate in the Democratic primary appeared to have taken a strong position on digital assets as part of their campaigns before the PAC’s involvement.
The Democratic candidate is running for the seat currently occupied by Representative Frederica Wilson, who, in addition to voting against the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act and Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act while serving in Congress, endorsed Gilbert. Shevrin Jones, a Florida state senator and Democratic candidate who was ahead of Gilbert in an early August poll, has completed a questionnaire with Stand With Crypto, earning him a “strongly supports” rating from the advocacy organization.
Gilbert reportedly said “[Donald] Trump’s tech billionaire buddies” were behind the “crypto con artists trying to buy a Democratic primary” through the ads, which included fake Miami Herald headlines unrelated to digital asset policy. Wilson endorsed Gilbert at a June 22 event. Cointelegraph reached out to Gilbert’s campaign for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
