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Key Takeaways
- The backed incumbents are mostly expected to win reelection, and many sit on the Financial Services and Ways and Means committees.
- Fairshake says it has backed the winner in 53 of 57 primaries this cycle and is focused on policy alignment rather than party.
- The PAC’s biggest opposition effort targets former Senator Sherrod Brown, with about $30 million committed, rather than the senators who sank the Clarity Act.
Fairshake, the crypto industry’s leading political action committee, released a list Monday of 32 incumbent candidates it is backing in U.S. House races this November, split between 13 Democrats and 19 Republicans. Six of those candidates, three from each party, are each receiving about $1 million in support from Fairshake and its affiliated PACs.
Safe Seats, Strategic Committee Placement
The backed candidates are generally considered likely to win reelection, a pattern that could reinforce existing crypto-friendly representation in Congress rather than flip competitive seats. Fairshake spokesman Geoff Vetter described the PAC’s approach as centered on policy alignment rather than party.
“Fairshake has always been and always will be an issue-focused organization.”
Many of the 32 incumbents sit on committees central to future crypto legislation, including the House Financial Services Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee, which handles tax policy. Others sit on agriculture, science and judiciary panels that have also played roles in past crypto-related bills.
Top Republican and Democratic Recipients
On the Republican side, the three candidates receiving the highest level of support are House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill, who led House efforts on crypto legislation; Bill Huizenga, a senior committee member; and Bryan Steil, who chairs the committee’s digital assets subcommittee.
Among Democrats, the top recipients are Nevada Representative Steven Horsford, who helped advance a bipartisan crypto tax bill through the House tax committee he serves on; California Representative Derek Tran; and Oregon Representative Janelle Bynum. Tran and Bynum both hold an “A” rating on digital asset issues from advocacy group Stand With Crypto.
Bynum defeated Republican incumbent Lori Chavez-DeRemer in Oregon two years ago. Chavez-DeRemer, who had Fairshake’s backing in that race, went on to lead the U.S. Department of Labor before resigning earlier this year amid misconduct allegations that have not resulted in formal charges. Bynum has since voted for crypto-related legislation during her current term and appeared at an industry policy conference earlier this year.
A Strong Primary Track Record
Vetter said Fairshake has backed the winning candidate in 53 of 57 primary races so far this cycle, and the PAC has said it is working to build what it calls the largest pro-crypto caucus in the industry’s political history. In many of those primaries, the PAC’s strategy involved backing a crypto-friendly candidate from whichever party was favored to win the broader general election, an approach that helped produce similar results in the previous election cycle.
A House Focus Distinct From the PAC’s Senate Fight
The House has not presented the industry’s biggest legislative obstacle this cycle. The Senate passed the GENIUS Act, a major stablecoin regulation bill, last year, but the broader Digital Asset Market Clarity Act failed in the Senate last month, with all Democrats and several Republicans voting against it.
Despite that defeat, Fairshake has not launched a broad campaign against the senators who opposed the bill. Its largest single opposition effort remains focused on former Senator Sherrod Brown, the Ohio Democrat seeking to return to the Senate after previously leading a Banking Committee the industry viewed as unfriendly to crypto. Fairshake has committed about $30 million to opposing Brown’s campaign, and a separate PAC backed by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss has added another $3 million against him.
How the Spending Works
Fairshake’s spending takes the form of independent advertising purchases made without coordination with the campaigns it supports or opposes. The PAC’s ads typically do not mention crypto policy directly, instead focusing on whatever messaging its strategists judge most likely to influence voters in a given race.
