GOP Presses $165M Fairshake PAC on Midterm Targets
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- Fairshake super PAC holds a $165 million war chest funded primarily by Coinbase — the largest political spending operation of any industry in America — yet has not announced which midterm races it will target, infuriating Republicans who delivered crypto's biggest legislative wins.
- Senate Republicans advanced the CLARITY Act out of the Senate Banking Committee with all 13 GOP members voting in favor, while Democrats opposed it 9-2, setting up a broader fight over how digital assets are regulated.
- Sherrod Brown has softened his crypto stance since Fairshake spent $40 million-plus to defeat him in 2024, leading Republicans to fear the PAC will sit out his Ohio Senate rematch this fall.
- Stand with Crypto — the Coinbase-backed advocacy group whose ratings Fairshake uses to choose targets — raised New Hampshire Democrat Chris Pappas's grade from an "F" to an "A" within eight months, blunting GOP hopes that the PAC would go after a lawmaker who voted against two pro-crypto bills in 2024.
- Republican strategists say the industry may be hedging against a Democratic win or trying not to alienate Democrats needed for future legislation, noting that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has softened his crypto skepticism.
- The Winklevoss twins launched their own groups solely devoted to backing GOP candidates after Fairshake supported Democrats in key 2024 Senate races in Michigan and Arizona despite spending more overall to help Republicans.
Why it matters: The CLARITY Act's committee passage gave Republicans a tangible legislative win, but Fairshake's silence on targets leaves Senate strategists unable to budget for the fall — and waiting means pricier ad time. Crypto holds America's biggest single-industry war chest, so its deployment becomes a decisive factor in the November fight for House and Senate control.
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