A conservative US political action committee backed by the Solana Policy Institute – the Sentinel Action Fund – has pledged to spend heavily on advertising for the political opponent of former Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat and prominent crypto-skeptic who is trying to return to Washington in this year’s Ohio Senate elections.
Sentinel and its affiliated nonprofit, Right Vote, have committed $8 million to Jon Husted, the Republican nominee to fill Vice President JD Vance’s seat, according to a statement released Wednesday. The committee accused its opponent, Brown, who served as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee before losing his seat in 2024, of “obstructing policies that favor digital asset innovation.”
The super PAC is partially funded by the Solana Institute and crypto venture capital firm Multicoin Capital, in addition to several high-profile financial figures such as Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, Ken Fisher of Fisher Investments, AQR Capital Management co-founder Cliff Asness, and Paul Singer, the billionaire co-CEO of hedge fund Elliott Management which owns a stake in Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin giant Strategy.
The PAC’s largest donor, however, is a nonprofit, Townsend Six Corp., established in late 2024 and supported by an $8 million contribution from an unidentified donor.
The Ohio elections will be among the hotly contested Senate battles that will decide that chamber’s majority for next year. Although filling open seats has been difficult for Democrats, Republicans’ decline in popularity under President Donald Trump’s administration has given Democrats a chance to win back that majority.
While polls last year indicated Husted had a strong lead over Brown, more recent polls have shown the race to be neck and neck.
Sentinel joins the crypto industry’s leading PAC, Fairshake, and this month’s new Fellowship PAC, as entities supporting pro-digital candidates. When Brown was defeated in the 2024 election, Fairshake had dedicated $40 million to his opponent.
The Solana Policy Institute donated a total of $750,000 to the Sentinel Action Fund. The group, however, has divided partisan allegiances in its campaign spending. He gave $2 million to Republican congressional PACs and $1.5 million to Democratic PACs with opposing goals, according to Federal Election Commission records.
If Democrats win the Senate, the House, or both, it could change the course of crypto legislation, although the industry has amassed significant bipartisan support in Congress and will likely add more names in the November midterm elections.
