Julianna Stratton, lieutenant governor of Illinois and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, speaks during a primary election night event in Chicago, Tuesday, March 17, 2026.
Christopher Dilts | Bloomberg | getty images
A major crypto PAC was dealt a blow after the Democratic candidate for Illinois Senate spent millions to win Tuesday’s primary and likely be sworn into office next year.
Powered by Fairshake coinbaseRipple Labs and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz spent more than $10 million on ads opposing Illinois Lieutenant Governor Julianna Stratton in her Democratic primary race for Senate. Stratton received an “F” rating stand with cryptoAnd took to social media to condemn the “MAGA-backed Crypto Brothers” who were funding ads opposing him. Stratton is almost certain to become Illinois’ next senator in November, as the state leans heavily Democratic.
Another candidate opposed by Fairshack, LaShawn Ford, also won his primary to become the Democratic nominee for Illinois’s 7th Congressional District. The district leans heavily Democratic, setting Ford on a path to Congress.
But Fairshack also recorded a trio of victories down the road at Illinois. The group endorsed Democrats Representatives Nikki Budzinski and Melissa Bean, who won their respective primaries in deep blue congressional districts. Fairshake also ran against Robert Peters in Illinois’s 2nd Congressional District, who lost to Donna Miller.
The results show the limits of using money in politics as a means to advance industry agendas. Fairshake is pushing for its preferred regulatory structure for the emerging industry.
Like Fairshake, the AI industry PAC scored a few wins in congressional primaries, which could make new lawmakers more favorable to the regulations — or lack thereof — that crypto and AI companies are seeking.
AI PAC Leading the Future also endorsed Bean’s victorious campaign. However, the group endorsed Jesse Jackson Jr., who lost the primary in Illinois’s 2nd Congressional District.
The group’s donors include Andreessen Horowitz, OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman. palantir Co-founder Joe Lonsdale, SV Angel founder Ron Conway and AI software company Perplexity.
The Illinois primaries aren’t the first race into which an AI-aligned super PAC has poured money.
Future is leading Republican primary winner and former Defense Department official Laurie Buckhout in the competitive race to flip North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District. The group also spent $5 million in four GOP House primaries in Texas, in which all of the favored candidates either won the primaries or advanced to the runoffs.
Rival PAC network Public First Action, which counts Anthropic among its major donors, also jumped in early primaries, endorsing Democratic Rep. Valerie Fauci in fending off a progressive challenger in North Carolina’s 4th District, as well as several pro-regulation candidates from both parties in the Texas primary.
– CNBC caleigh keating Contributed to this article.