TechFlow News, March 18: According to DL News, Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton defeated pro-crypto U.S. Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi in the Democratic Senate primary—despite Fairshake, a cryptocurrency industry-aligned super PAC, spending nearly $10 million on ads attacking Stratton. As Illinois is a deep-blue state, Stratton’s primary victory effectively secures her the Senate seat in the November general election.
This marks the crypto industry’s first clear political setback in the 2026 election cycle. Fairshake is backed by Coinbase, Ripple Labs, and venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. At the end of January, it held over $191 million in cash reserves; it currently retains $221 million available for future campaign spending.
Meanwhile, Fairshake-backed candidates Donna Miller, Melissa Bean, and Nikki Budzinski all won their respective House primaries. According to donation data tracked by crypto researcher Molly White, the cryptocurrency industry has spent a total of $271 million on elections this year.
