Fairshake Puts $30 Million Behind Effort to Beat Sherrod Brown in Ohio
The crypto super PAC's second campaign against the former senator comes days after the Senate rejected the Clarity Act, leaving the industry's legislative path blocked before the midterms.
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Fairshake, the crypto industry's main campaign fund, plans to spend $30 million against former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown's attempt to return to Congress, Politico reported. The target is an Ohio Senate race against Republican incumbent Jon Husted, one that could help decide which party controls the chamber.
The announcement lands days after the Senate blocked the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which would have set federal rules for crypto trading and split oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. A cloture motion to proceed drew 49 votes in favor and 50 against, short of the 60 required. Every Democrat present opposed advancing the bill, as did Republican Sens. Susan Collins, Josh Hawley and Jerry Moran. Sen. Thom Tillis switched his vote to no for procedural reasons, a move that preserves the option of bringing the measure back later.
That outcome leaves little room to restart the legislation before the November 3 midterms. After the vote, Stand With Crypto, an advocacy group backed by Coinbase, said it would record senators' votes on its lawmaker scorecards and mobilize supporters for the election.
Brown's campaign manager, Patrick Eisenhauer, responded to the planned spending in a statement: "Of course the special interests are panicking, they know Sherrod will fight the rigged system they're feasting on to stand up for working Ohioans."
This is not Fairshake's first attempt to defeat Brown. In 2024 the group put roughly $40 million behind Republican Bernie Moreno, who unseated him. Brown's skepticism toward crypto and his chairmanship of the Senate Banking Committee had made him a priority target for the industry.
Husted, a former Ohio lieutenant governor, was appointed to the seat in January 2025 after JD Vance left it to become vice president.
Fairshake draws most of its funding from Coinbase, Ripple and Andreessen Horowitz. The committee had raised $116 million for the 2026 cycle as of January 2025 and reported $108 million on hand at the end of August. The group says it backs crypto-friendly candidates in both parties, though its advertising typically sidesteps the topic and concentrates on issues with broader voter appeal — an approach it used in 2024 and again during this year's congressional primaries.
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