Adrian Boafo won Maryland's 5th District Democratic primary with $5.5M from crypto PAC Protect Progress. The Oracle lobbyist and state delegate now heads to a general election in a safely Democratic seat.
Adrian Boafo won the Democratic primary for Maryland's 5th Congressional District on Tuesday, beating a 24-person field that included former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn. The win came with roughly $5.5 million in backing from Protect Progress, the Democratic arm of the crypto super PAC network Fairshake, according to Associated Press reports and Federal Election Commission filings.
Total outside spending on Boafo's behalf reached about $11 million when including support from pro-Israel groups. The United Democracy Project, a super PAC tied to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), contributed $5.7 million to the race, largely to support Boafo.
Boafo's own campaign raised $1.14 million. Oracle executives, including Executive Vice President Kenneth Glueck and SVP of Government Affairs Josh Pitcock, accounted for $26,500 in direct contributions. Coinbase employees, led by VP of Engineering Jesse Pollak, added $11,500.
Protect Progress also directed smaller sums to oppose Dunn ($172,295) and Quincy Bareebe ($98,454), according to Tech Influence Watch, a spending tracker run by independent journalist Molly White.
Boafo is a Maryland state delegate who has served since January 2023 and a former federal lobbyist for Oracle. He sponsored House Bill 470, which created a task force to study the use and regulation of blockchain technology and digital assets in Maryland. Gov. Wes Moore signed the bill into law in May. Boafo also sponsored the Maryland Financial Innovation Act of 2026, which aims to establish clearer rules for digital assets.
In a 2025 LinkedIn post promoting the blockchain legislation, Boafo called the technology "the future."
Each crypto-backed candidate who reaches Congress adds a potential vote for pending bills like the CLARITY Act, which would draw jurisdictional lines between the SEC and CFTC over digital assets. Fairshake has raised between $150 million and $200 million for the 2026 cycle from contributors including Coinbase and Ripple, and is actively spending in primaries across both parties.
Protect Progress has already helped tip other Democratic primaries this cycle. The PAC spent more than $600,000 supporting Melissa Bean's winning House campaign in Illinois. Last month, pro-crypto Rep. Christian Menefee won against Rep. Al Green in a Texas Democratic primary runoff after receiving crypto super PAC endorsements.
The same night Boafo won, Rep. Dan Goldman lost the Democratic primary in New York to Brad Lander. Goldman had voted in favor of both the GENIUS Act and the Clarity Act when the House passed the two crypto-related bills last year.
During the 2024 election cycle, the Fairshake network spent $133 million backing crypto-friendly candidates in both parties.
Oracle is a cloud infrastructure provider whose services are used by crypto exchanges and decentralized finance projects. The company's stock page is ORCL.
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