Registered voters in New Jersey will soon decide who their party candidates will be for the state’s 2025 gubernatorial race, and positions on digital assets could influence the outcome.
On June 5, one Republican and two Democratic candidates for the governor of New Jersey addressed a crowd of cryptocurrency-minded voters at a rally organized by the political advocacy group Stand With Crypto. The event was held five days before New Jersey voters will go to the polls in party primaries, though reportedly more than 300,000 people have already cast their ballots.
“I believe and the [state pension] board believes that cryptocurrency is an important part of the future of this country and the economic system of the world,” said Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, a Democratic candidate for governor, who was at the event.
Stand With Crypto reported in March that the more than 60,000 people registered with the organization could play a role in determining who will be New Jersey’s next governor. The race is expected to be exceptionally close both in the June party primaries and the November general election.
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Other candidates in attendance at the crypto rally included Democratic Representative Josh Gottheimer and Republican radio host Bill Spadea. The current Democratic governor, Phil Murphy, is not eligible to run again after serving two consecutive terms.
“I support crypto,” said Spadea at the rally. “More importantly, I support the whole concept of blockchain technology reforming and revamping our government.”
Campaigns backed by crypto in a 2024 repeat?
Individual crypto users may have contributed directly to Spadea, Gottheimer or Fulop to support their respective runs in the June 10 primaries. Cointelegraph was unable to locate state filings on whether any crypto companies or political action committees (PACs) backed by the industry had donated to any of the three candidates’ campaigns.
A spokesperson for Stand With Crypto said the organization’s PAC had not yet used any of its funds to support candidates in the New Jersey gubernatorial election, but may before November, when it also intends to endorse a candidate. The group launched its PAC in May 2024 ahead of the US federal elections.
According to Federal Election Commission data, the cryptocurrency-backed PAC Fairshake and its affiliate Protect Progress spent more than $240,000 to support Gottheimer in his 2024 Democratic primary, and the candidate received campaign contributions from many industry figures, including Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Cointelegraph reached out to Gottheimer’s campaign regarding crypto donations for the governor’s race, but had not received a response at the time of publication.
The New Jersey gubernatorial run could be another bellwether for how the crypto industry intends to handle US elections after 2024, when President Donald Trump and many members of Congress considered to be “pro-crypto” won their respective races. A Fairshake affiliate PAC called Defend American Jobs also spent more than $1.5 million to support two Republican candidates in special elections in April for Florida congressional seats.
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