Fairshake PACs Drop $2.7M on House Races — Crypto's Midterm Checkbook Is Open 🗳️

Affiliate PACs of Fairshake reported a combined $2.7 million in media and direct mail expenditures ahead of the US midterm elections, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Saturday. The Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress PACs, both backed by Fairshake, directed the spending toward Democratic and Republican candidates running for US House of Representatives seats in 2026. Fairshake itself is funded largely by Cantor Fitzgerald, Coinbase and Ripple Labs.

The filings itemized support for specific incumbents, including more than $76,000 for House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, $73,000 for House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson, $512,000 for California Representative Pete Aguilar and $500,000 for New Jersey Representative Josh Gottheimer. All four voted for the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act in 2025, a bill intended to establish market structure rules for the cryptocurrency industry and expand the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's oversight authority. The measure passed the House with bipartisan support but failed a procedural vote in the Senate in September.

The FEC reports came days after Fairshake announced endorsements of an additional 32 House candidates for 2026, with six slated to receive $1 million each in supportive media. None of those six appeared in the Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress expenditures, though Emmer, Aguilar, Gottheimer and Thompson were among the incumbents on the endorsement list. As of August, a Fairshake spokesperson said the PAC held $122 million in cash on hand for its midterm strategy aimed at boosting "pro-crypto" candidates in Congress.

That strategy also targets Ohio's Senate race, where Fairshake has allocated at least $30 million in media buys against former banking committee chair Sherrod Brown. While in office, Brown was among the leading Democrats voting against bills the crypto industry considered favorable. Stand With Crypto, a Coinbase initiative that ranks lawmakers by their public statements and voting on crypto issues, warned after the failed CLARITY vote that candidates who did not advance the legislation could face "consequences" in the midterms, and is again mobilizing crypto-aligned voters as it did during the 2024 cycle.