Fairshake backs 32 House races as crypto bill stalls

Fairshake said Monday, Oct. 5, that it will support 32 House incumbents in November’s midterm elections, with $1 million in spending planned for six of them, as the crypto industry looks to revive stalled legislation. The group’s announcement, reported by The Associated Press, names lawmakers from both parties who backed a major crypto market-structure bill.

• 32 House incumbents: 19 Republicans and 13 Democrats.
• Six lawmakers: $1 million each in planned spending.
• Fairshake and affiliated PACs: about $120 million in cash at the end of August, according to AP.

Who gets the $1 million spending commitments?

Three Republicans and three Democrats will receive the largest disclosed commitments, according to Fairshake. The Republicans are House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill of Arkansas, Bryan Steil of Wisconsin and Bill Huizenga of Michigan.

The Democrats are Janelle Bynum of Oregon, Steven Horsford of Nevada and Derek Tran of California. Fairshake has not said how much it plans to spend on the other 26 candidates, so the six commitments do not reveal the full cost of the slate.

All 32 incumbents voted for the CLARITY Act, the market-structure bill that passed the House in July 2025. The legislation would set federal rules for digital-asset markets. The bill stalled in the Senate, where lawmakers did not reach agreement on provisions including ethics rules for public officials with crypto ventures.

How will Fairshake support the candidates?

Fairshake is a super PAC, a political group that can raise and spend unlimited sums independently of candidates’ campaigns. The CoinDesk report on the slate says the group’s spending has gone to independent advertising buys, rather than campaign spending coordinated with candidates.

Fairshake spokesman Geoff Vetter described the group as issue-focused and said it backs candidates in both parties who support crypto. The PAC says it has backed 53 winners in 57 races it engaged in this election cycle, according to CoinDesk.

The list includes lawmakers in influential committees. Many sit on House Financial Services or Ways and Means, panels that could shape future rules for crypto markets and taxes. The group is betting that keeping these incumbents in office will preserve allies for another attempt at legislation.

What does the stalled bill mean for the midterms?

The spending comes after the CLARITY Act failed to advance in the Senate, leaving the next Congress as a potential venue for renewed negotiations. Fairshake’s slate ties its election support to votes on the bill, even as the group presents its spending as bipartisan.

The House list is only part of the group’s election activity. AP reported that Fairshake had also announced plans to spend nearly $30 million against Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown in Ohio, after Senate Democrats helped block the bill. Fairshake has not said whether it plans further spending in House or Senate races before November.

For voters, the announced $1 million commitments identify six races where Fairshake has disclosed a specific spending level. The total for the 32 House races remains unknown, as does how much of the group’s cash reserve it will put toward the slate.

Sources and documents

• announcement, reported by The Associated Press — apnews.com
• CoinDesk report on the slate — coindesk.com