As cryptocurrency boosters snacked on cold cuts and crudités inside a darkened Jersey City music venue last week, three candidates for New Jersey governor took the stage to pledge their support for the industry.

“Jersey is too expensive. We’ve got to get taxes down, we’ve got to get our rents down, we’ve got to get our costs down,” said U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a centrist Democrat and middle-of-the-pack contender in Tuesday’s gubernatorial primary. “The key to that, I believe, is crypto. So please know that you’ve got a great champion in me.”

Under Donald Trump’s presidency and a Republican-dominated Congress, the crypto industry has racked up a series of political wins. It could be within days of winning full Senate support for one of its most prized pieces of legislation, a so-called “stablecoin” bill endangered mostly by the Trump family’s attempt to profit off the burgeoning asset class.

But the industry’s power brokers know that state offices — like governor’s mansions — could play just as important a role in crypto’s future. Industry lobbyists would like to loosen state regulations and win investments from massive public pension funds, and they’ll need state lawmakers and executives to achieve that.

For three candidates who trooped onto the stage at the rally hosted by an industry-funded group last week, the event’s appeal was obvious. Gottheimer drew more than $240,000 in campaign cash from crypto super PACs during his last congressional race. Fellow Democrat Steve Fulop, the mayor of Jersey City, has wooed crypto voters by investing part of the city’s pension fund in bitcoin. They joined talk radio host Bill Spadea, a long-shot candidate in the Republican primary, for a chance to pitch undecided voters last Thursday at an event hosted by the industry group........

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