Another crypto-aligned political action committee (PAC) has signaled a deeper push into Ohio politics by endorsing a Senate candidate in a move that could mirror 2024’s election activity. Sentinel Action Fund, which bills itself as the “only conservative Super PAC advancing pro-crypto candidates and supporting pro-crypto innovation,” announced it would back Republican Jon Husted in the race for Ohio’s U.S. Senate seat.
Husted was appointed by Governor Mike DeWine in January 2025 to fill the vacancy left by JD Vance, who became vice president after the 2024 election. He remains one of several Republicans competing ahead of Ohio’s May 5 primary. On the Democratic side, former Senator Sherrod Brown and Ron Kincaid are contesting their primary.
Sentinel Action Fund President Jessica Anderson criticized Brown in the endorsement, saying he has “stood in the way of pro-innovation policies when it comes to digital assets.” Although Federal Election Commission filings as of Tuesday showed no reported disbursements to Husted in 2026, Sentinel and an affiliated group, Right Vote, have pledged to spend more than $8 million in Ohio. Sentinel reported roughly $9 million raised from January 2025 through March 2026, including $750,000 from the Solana Policy Institute and $250,000 from Multicoin Capital.
Observers view the PAC’s involvement as a potential bellwether for how crypto-aligned interests will allocate money in upcoming U.S. elections. In 2024, crypto-backed PACs spent over $40 million in Ohio to support Republican Bernie Moreno’s bid that aimed to unseat Sherrod Brown, who had been publicly critical of the crypto industry.
Despite losing his seat in 2024, Brown announced in August that he would run for the Senate again. Moreno’s current seat is not contestable until 2030.
Ohio’s races feature other crypto-focused contestants. Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential hopeful and backer of the Bitcoin treasury company Strive, entered the Ohio gubernatorial race after leaving Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). He launched his campaign in February 2025 and has backed the idea of a strategic Bitcoin reserve for the state.
Ramaswamy’s financial disclosures filed on April 6 drew criticism over potential conflicts of interest. He reported owning roughly 10% of Strive, which holds about 13,768 Bitcoin—valued at over $1 billion—raising concerns that state policy favoring a Bitcoin treasury could benefit companies in which he has significant holdings.
Disclosure: A member of the immediate family of Staff Editor Robert Lakin has contributed less than $200 to the campaigns of Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton and Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown.
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