Affiliates of the Fairshake political action committee (PAC), primarily funded by Coinbase and Ripple Labs, have significantly increased their spending in Ohio’s Senate race, a critical contest for the 2026 midterms. According to recent Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings, Defend American Jobs, a Fairshake affiliate, spent $46.6 million on media opposing former lawmaker Sherrod Brown and supporting Republican incumbent Jon Husted. This expenditure exceeds the $30 million initially announced by Fairshake in September.
Sherrod Brown, addressing the attack ads funded by the crypto industry, stated in an interview on Pod Save America, '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.' Early voting in Ohio has been underway for 10 days, with just under three weeks until the US election.
The Digital Freedom Fund, a Super PAC created by Gemini co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, also ramped up spending, reporting about $3 million in ad spending this week to oppose Brown and support Husted. This brings the group’s total media purchases in the Ohio race to over $5.9 million. Fairshake’s expenditures have already surpassed its 2024 efforts, when the PAC spent $41 million supporting Republican Bernie Moreno and opposing Brown, who was running for reelection to the Senate at the time.
Fairshake’s focus extends beyond Ohio. Defend American Jobs reported spending more than $6.7 million to oppose Independent candidate Dan Osborn in Nebraska’s Senate race. 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 while in office. Fairshake has been open about its intention to back pro-crypto candidates in 2026, aiming to fill the next session of Congress with lawmakers supportive of policies favored by the industry.