Michigan House Rep Loses Primary after $2M Support from Crypto PAC

Michigan State Representative Donavan McKinney won a Democratic primary against incumbent House Representative Shri Thanedar in a race that raised accusations of payback by the cryptocurrency industry.

McKinney won the primary for Michigan’s 13th Congressional District with 51.9% of the vote against Thanedar’s 48.1% as of Wednesday, the New York Times reported. The primary saw a cryptocurrency-backed political action committee (PAC) spending more than $2 million on media in an attempt to re-elect Thanedar, who has voted in favor of many bills favoring the industry while in Congress. 

Election results for Democratic primary in Michigan’s 13th congressional district. Source: The New York Times

McKinney, considered by many to be a progressive challenger to two-term Thanedar, has already received support from the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Socialists of America on his primary victory. During the campaign, he accused the crypto industry of “paying my opponent back for helping Trump make over $1 billion since taking office,” likely referring to Thanedar’s voting record.

Protect Progress, the super PAC responsible for funding the ads supporting Thanedar and opposing McKinney, is affiliated with Fairshake, a group backed primarily by crypto companies Coinbase and Ripple. After spending more than $170 million in the 2024 US election cycle on similar races involving pro- and anti-crypto candidates, Fairshake and its affiliates have poured additional millions of dollars into media for politicians in this year’s primaries in several US states ahead of the November general election.

Related: Nigel Farage to resign from UK Parliament amid crypto “gift” scandal, will stand in by-election

In addition to voting for bills like the GENIUS Act and CLARITY Act in the House of Representatives, Thanedar also reportedly lost more than $600,000 in the second quarter of 2026 after investing $3.7 million of campaign funds into crypto companies.

”Washington has spent too long serving billionaires and corporate interests,” said McKinney in a Wednesday X post. ”I will always only serve the people I represent.”

McKinney will face off against Republican candidate Taras Nykoriak in the November election. Cointelegraph sought a comment from McKinney’s campaign on Wednesday but did not receive an immediate response.

PAC-supported candidate wins Washington primary

In addition to Protect Progress’ efforts in Michigan, the Fairshake affiliate Defend American Jobs spent more than $65,000 on media to support Republican Amanda McKinney (no relation to the Michigan candidate) in Washington’s 4th congressional district. McKinney will face off against Democrat John Duresky in November, with both candidates securing more than 30% of the vote in Tuesday’s primary to advance to the general election.

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