As voters in New Jersey head to the polls to cast their ballots in the Democratic and Republican primaries for the state’s next governor, it has been found that funding from the crypto industry is not playing as significant a role as it did in the 2024 federal races.
According to the filings with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission reviewed by Cointelegraph, as of Tuesday, no major political action committees (PACs) funded by cryptocurrency companies or interest groups have made contributions to any of the 12 Democratic and Republican candidates running for governor. In the search for direct contributions to candidates or PACs, only a small number of filings indicate connections to the crypto industry. In total, candidates have received approximately $4,000 in donations from individuals associated with the crypto industry. For example, Robert Samuels, the vice – president of investor relations of mining company Mara Holdings, contributed $500 to the campaign of Democratic candidate Josh Gottheimer. Rohan Varkey, a strategic finance senior analyst at Block, gave $900 to Republican candidate Jon Bramnick. Mitis the, a Coinbase consultant, donated $500 to Democratic candidate Steve Fulop, and Roshan Shah, the co – founder and CEO of New Jersey – based mining company Decimal Digital Currency, contributed $2,000 to Democratic candidate Ras Baraka.
These contributions pale in comparison to the crypto industry’s efforts in the 2024 elections, where PACs like Fair Shake spent over $130 million on congressional races. The filings suggest that the crypto industry’s financial involvement in the New Jersey gubernatorial primaries is relatively limited.
Nevertheless, the crypto – advocacy group Stand with Crypto, affiliated with Coinbase, organized a “get out the vote” rally on Thursday, allowing three candidates for governor to speak to crypto – minded residents. Gottheimer, Fulop, and Republican candidate Bill Spadea expressed their support for digital assets at the event. However, a spokesperson for Stand with Crypto said after the event that the organization’s PAC had not yet used any funds to support candidates in the state’s gubernatorial election.
According to a June 4 report from Ad Impact, the gubernatorial primary is set to be the most expensive election in the state’s history, with more than $85 million spent to support or oppose candidates. The report did not mention any funding from crypto companies, further indicating that crypto – related funding is not a major factor in this election.
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