HODLpac Endorsements - May 4, 2022
HODLpac Endorsements - May 4, 2022
Plus HODLpac Donation Round #2 Starting Next Week
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With Ohio and Indiana in the rear view, we’re officially in the thick of primary season. Next up: Nebraska and West Virginia on May 10th and Idaho, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oregon, and Pennsylvania on May 17th. See full schedule here.
With your help, HODLpac has already supported 14 candidates during our first Donation Round. But we’re just getting started!
Our second Donation Round will start Monday, May 9th at 12pm EST. Mark you calendars and get ready to give. We’ll send more details about the round, including matching pool amounts later this week.
In advance of HODLpac’s second Donation Round, we’re thrilled to endorse 9 more candidates. See below for a list.
Rep. David Schweikert, Republican Party, incumbent running in Arizona’s 1st District
As the representative from Arizona’s 6th District, Rep. Schweikert is an active support of pro-crypto policy in the House as co-chair of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus and co-sponsor of legislation such as the Keep Innovation in America Act and the Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act. This year, after redristricting, Schweikert is running in Arizona’s 1st district and is facing a handful of serious challengers. In this race, crypto voters in the U.S. have an opportunity to defend one of our existing champions in the House.
Shrina Kurani, Democratic Party, challenger running in California’s 41st District
Shrina Kurani is an engineer, entrepreneur, and startup investor running for Congress in California’s 41st District. As an employee at Republic, Kurani had hands-on experience with crypto and wants to bring her pro-crypto, pro-innovation background to Congress. In California, the top two vote-getters in each district’s open primaries move on to the general. Kurani is among the top three candidates in her district - the other two being Republican incumbent Ken Calvert and a fellow Democratic challenger. She needs the crypto community’s support to secure a second place finish in the June 7th primary in order to go on to challenge Rep. Calvert in what is a newly competitive district. Let’s show the political world what we can do by supporting her next week!
Tim Baxter, Republican Party, challenger in New Hampshire’s 1st District
Tim Baxter is running for the Republican nomination in New Hampshire’s 1st District, where Rep. Chris Pappas is the Democratic incumbent. Though Baxter would be the youngest member of Congress if elected, he has already demonstrated that crypto is a legislative priority of his in the New Hampshire state senate, where he currently serves. Due to pending redistricting, this district is likely to become more “red” by the time New Hampshire elections roll around and Baxter - the clear pro-crypto candidate in this race - could have a real shot at winning if early support propels him to the nomination.
Benjamin Samuels, Democratic Party, challenger in Missouri’s 2nd District
Benjamin Samuels is running for the Democratic nomination in Missouri’s 2nd District, hoping for a chance to challenge incumbent Ann Wagner. Wagner has a not-terrible but not-great review when it comes to crypto-related policy, she’s introduced legislation to study the illicit use of virtual currencies and is widely seen as an advocate for the big banks. Samuels, on the other hand, is a full-throated supporter of Web3 and cryptocurrencies. From Samuels’ HODLpac Questionnaire response:
“Web3 is a potential breakthrough in democratizing access to financial instruments and is positioned to be an important part of the next generation of innovation and job creation.”
Senator Ted Cruz, Republican Party, incumbent from Texas
Senator Cruz is a well-known figure on the national political stage and though he isn’t up for reelection this cycle, supporting him as a crypto voter means solidifying a prominent ally in the Republican party with the influence to sway lesser-known/less-resourced to our cause. Over the past year, Cruz has leaned into crypto issues as the junior senator from Texas - a state that has whole-heartedly embraced Bitcoin mining and other digital asset companies. He often speaks highly of the industry on Twitter and introduced a (largely signalling-focused) bill to “repeal the provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that impose new information reporting requirements with respect to digital asset transfers” during the Infrastructure Bill debate this past summer.
Rep. Bryan Steil, Republican Party, incumbent from Wisconsin’s 1st District
Rep. Bryan Steil is a member of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus and the House Financial Services Committee. Cook PVI has his district rated as R+7, meaning it is a relatively safe seat for him in 2022. Nonetheless, supporting him and adding to his campaign coffers is an investment in securing a crypto-friendly member of Congress’ seat in arguably the most relevant committee in Congress.
Nicholas Begich III, Republican Party, special election for Alaska’s at-large Congressional seat
Alaska only has one House seat, which was occupied by Don Young, the longest-serving Republican in congressional history (since 1972), until his passing earlier this year. There are more than 40 candidates running to replace Young in a June 11th special primary election, including former VP candidate Sarah Palin. Begich, however, announced his candidacy before Young’s death and has been campaigning for months, is the biggest fundraiser in the race (mostly from self-funding) and is pro-crypto.
JD Vance, Republican Party, candidate for Ohio’s open Senate seat
JD Vance won yesterday’s Republican party nomination for Ohio’s open Senate seat. HODLpac endorsed his competitor - Josh Mandel - during the primaries because Mandel was undoubtedly more outspoken when it comes to his support for crypto; however, the Trump-backed and Peter Thiel-backed Vance - who reportedly owns Bitcoin or other digital assets - is beginning to increase his focus on crypto as a policy issue. Expect much more out of Vance in the coming months on topics relevant to crypto voters.
Vance will face off against Tim Ryan in November, who HODLpac has also endorsed. Both are solid pro-crypto choices and endorsing both gives members of HODLpac the opportunity to support either side for reasons other than crypto, while ensuring the interests of crypto voters are expressed and highlighted in the process.
Sen. Todd Young, Republican Party, incumbent from Indiana
Senator Todd Young won the uncontested Indiana Senate Republican primary election yesterday and will face Democratic challenger Thomas McDermott Jr. in November. In the Senate, Young has shown signs of “crypto-curiosity,” having sponsored the Blockchain Promotion Act. Though Young is favored to win in the heavily-Republican state of Indiana, HODLpac is endorsing the Senator so that crypto voters in Indiana and elsewhere can help bring him into the fold of true crypto champions in the Senate.
Rep. Brett Guthrie, Republican Party, incumbent from Kentucky’s 2nd District
Rep. Brett Guthrie is a member of the House Energy and Commerce committee, which is increasingly crypto-relevant due to the ongoing debate around Proof-of-Work mining and its environmental impact. He has also sponsored a few blockchain-focused bills, such as the Blockchain Promotion Act and the Consumer Safety Technology Act. Though these bills aren’t exactly game-changing for our industry/community (or likely to pass), Guthrie’s involvement signals interest in the potential of the technology.
Thoughts? Questions? Tweet at us.
Stay tuned for a Friday morning newsletter with details on next week’s Donation Round, potentially more endorsements, and the latest with HODLpac governance tokens…
Disclaimer: HODLpac is a FEC-registered hybrid political action committee and is not legally affiliated with any party, party committee, candidate or candidate committee.