Crypto PACs Open Wallets Wide to Block Brown's Senate Comeback in Ohio 🗳️

Affiliates of the Fairshake political action committee, largely funded by Coinbase and Ripple Labs, increased their announced expenditures by more than 50% in Ohio's 2026 Senate race, according to Thursday filings with the Federal Election Commission. Defend American Jobs, a Fairshake affiliate that supports Republican candidates, reported $46.6 million in media spending opposing former Sen. Sherrod Brown and supporting Republican incumbent Jon Husted, up from the $30 million Fairshake said in September it initially planned to spend opposing Brown. Early voting in the state has been underway for 10 days, with just under three weeks remaining until the US election. The Digital Freedom Fund, a Super PAC created by Gemini co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, separately reported about $3 million in ad spending this week against Brown and for Husted, bringing its total Ohio media purchases to more than $5.9 million.

Speaking on Friday's Pod Save America, Brown addressed the attack ads funded by the crypto industry, saying: "I've spent my career taking on Wall Street, taking on big pharma, taking on big oil and been successful in many cases." He added: "Jon Husted is their boy [...] They know he's their guy, they know I'm going to hold him accountable and I guess it's a perfect storm, so they spend literally tens and tens of millions of dollars." Brown, a former chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, was among the more outspoken congressional critics of policies favored by the crypto industry during his previous tenure. Fairshake's Ohio outlay has already surpassed the $41 million the PAC spent supporting Republican Bernie Moreno and opposing Brown during his 2024 reelection bid.

Fairshake's midterms focus extended beyond Ohio. Defend American Jobs reported spending more than $6.7 million to oppose Independent candidate Dan Osborn in Nebraska's Senate race, where Osborn is running against Republican Pete Ricketts, who voted in favor of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act and the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act. Fairshake has stated its intent to "back pro-crypto candidates" in 2026 as part of a push to fill the next session of Congress with lawmakers supportive of industry-favored policies. Cointelegraph reached out to Fairshake and Husted's campaign for comment but did not receive an immediate response.