Fairshake, the crypto Political Action Commitee (PAC), is spending money in a Bay Area House contest that was already decided once this year.
Its Democratic-focused affiliate, Protect Progress, disclosed in a Sunday filing with the US Federal Election Commission (FEC) that it spent $362,000 on media backing Aisha Wahab in California’s 14th congressional district. Her opponent is Melissa Hernandez, a fellow Democrat, whom Wahab defeated in an August 18 special election with more than 53% of the vote.
The outlay raises an obvious question about motive, since both women were rated “strongly supports crypto” after completing questionnaires for the digital asset organisation Stand With Crypto ahead of that special election.
The vote was held to choose a successor to Democrat Eric Swalwell, who resigned in April amid sexual assault allegations, for the remainder of a term ending in January 2027.
Fairshake’s network operates through two affiliates. Defend American Jobs aids Republicans, while Protect Progress donates to Democrats.
On October 5, the network said that it would back 32 House incumbents, made up of 19 Republicans and 13 Democrats, and described itself as an issue-focused group that supports “pro-crypto candidates who support American innovation in both parties.”
Every one of the 32 voted to advance the Clarity Act when it passed the House in July 2025. An initial $6 million was committed to six of them, at $1 million apiece. Republicans French Hill, Bill Huizenga and Bryan Steil are on that list, as are Democrats Janelle Bynum, Steven Horsford and Derek Tran.
Defend American Jobs has been busy in the Senate as well. In Nebraska, it put more than $6.7 million into ads opposing independent candidate Dan Osborn.
In Ohio, it added another $8 million to support Republican Jon Husted, pushing its cumulative spending in that race past $46 million. With just over two weeks until the 2026 election, Fairshake reported additional media spending in both states.
The group launched in 2023, funded largely by Coinbase, Ripple Labs and Andreessen Horowitz. During the 2024 cycle, it and its affiliates spent more than $133 million to help elect pro-crypto candidates to Congress.
It reported $193 million in cash on hand in January and has already directed tens of millions of dollars toward primaries and special elections for both parties.
Under the state’s Proposition 50, passed in 2025, new maps are required for the midterms, and the current boundaries, which include parts of San Francisco’s East Bay, will be expanded.
