Arizona primary involving crypto Super PAC’s $1.3M is a squeaker

After more than a week of tabulating ballots, a Democratic primary between candidates in Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District could come down to a single vote.

According to data from the Associated Press, as of Aug. 5, Democrat Yassamin Ansari was ahead of Raquel Terán by a mere 67 votes, with 99% of the votes counted in Arizona’s 3rd District. Ansari has the backing of the Protect Progress Super political action committee (PAC) — an affiliate of Fairshake and Defend American Jobs — which spent more than $1.3 million to support the Democratic candidate.

Election officials have hundreds of ballots, if not more, to tabulate before news outlets may declare a winner in the Democratic primary on July 30. However, the race will likely go to a recount, as the margin for victory will be within 0.5% of the total votes cast — roughly 40,000 to 50,000 — and required under Arizona law.

“We are still hard at work ensuring that every vote is counted,” said Ansari in an Aug. 3 statement.

Terán, who initially trailed Ansari by a few percentage votes, said on Aug. 3 that she was “narrowing the gap” and the race was “too close to call.” Cointelegraph reached out to Fairshake for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

Both Ansari and Terán expressed pro-crypto views before the primary. Ansari’s campaign website proposed “lead[ing] the way in the blockchain and crypto innovation,” while Terán’s said she was supportive of “collaborative approaches to studying blockchain and crypto innovation.”

On July 16, the Protect Progress PAC used more than $1.3 million in a media buy to support Ansari. The Defend American Jobs PAC also disseminated roughly $600,000 in a media buy to support Republican Blake Masters, who lost his primary to Abraham Hamadeh in the state’s 8th Congressional District.

Democrat Andrei Cherny, supported by a Protect Progress media buy, lost his primary to Amish Shah in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District. Shah, a former state representative, voted against an Arizona House bill to clarify income tax issues around crypto and non-fungible tokens in 2022.

Crypto influencing elections?

The potential losses in the Arizona primary would come as many experts scrutinize the role money from crypto-focused interest groups may play in the 2024 election season. California Representative Linda Sánchez reportedly called Protect Progress’ support of Ansari as a means to “buy a seat in Congress” and “silence the voices” of certain voters.

Since its creation, the Fairshake PAC and its affiliates have funded ads in favor of or against politicians in several US states, seemingly either to support ‘pro-crypto’ candidates or hamper the ambitions of ‘anti-crypto’ ones. In April, Protect Progress spent roughly $3.7 million to support Democratic candidates in Alabama and Texas who won their primaries.

As of July, Fairshake had reportedly raised more than $202 million, but Federal Election Commission records suggest that some crypto contributions may have been counted twice. The Super PAC has backed and funded media buys opposing candidates in Missouri’s Democratic and Republican primaries, scheduled for Aug. 6.