Losing a race is unusual for the crypto industry’s political action committee, Fairshake, which has posted a dominant record in the last two congressional elections. But this week’s Illinois primary suffered the biggest setback in its history, and will likely conclude with a new member of the Senate next year, someone the PAC spent more than $10 million trying to defeat.
Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton won her Democratic primary and her state’s Democratic tilt means she will likely be its next senator after the November general election. One of Fairshake’s affiliates had spent millions to buy opposition advertising in that race and to support two of its opponents, representing more than 5% of the funds it said it had available this year to devote to congressional races.
Not only did that money fail to get the result the group sought, but Stratton may eventually be a member of the 100-member Senate in which a single lawmaker can have a very powerful influence, and will be well aware of the industry’s efforts to oppose her. Cryptocurrency advocacy group Stand With Crypto, which evaluates politicians and political candidates, graded Stratton an “F” on digital asset issues, even though he has no significant personal history in cryptocurrency policy outside of the industry-opposing state regulatory regime signed by his boss last year.
The industry had mixed results in Illinois, supporting three pro-crypto candidates who won their primaries and another who did not.
“Fairshake sees this as a unique circumstance,” Fairshake spokesman Geoff Vetter said in a statement. When opposing other candidates, the Super PAC does not envision an “unlimited bench similar to what Stratten had.” He also said Illinois voters favored “more pro-crypto members of Congress.”
Beginning with the 2024 election, Fairshake, backed primarily by Coinbase, a16z, and Ripple, has targeted multiple Senate elections in which it spent over $10 million trying to influence the outcome. In his biggest spend of the last cycle, he dedicated a whopping $40 million to opposing former Sen. Sherrod Brown, the Ohio Democrat who, as former chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, stood in the way of cryptocurrency legislation. (Brown is attempting a comeback this year, although Fairshake has not yet announced his plan to challenge Sen. Jon Husted.)
Shawn Ford, who won her congressional primary from Illinois’ 7th District to potentially join the House of Representatives next year, was another of Fairshake’s targets in a race in which the PAC spent nearly $2.5 million. He accused the PAC of making misleading and defamatory accusations in its ads. While he may represent a future political opponent for the sector, Fairshake celebrated the victories of Donna Miller, Melissa Bean and incumbent Rep. Nikki Budzinski in other House races in that state.
Vetter said of Fairshake’s losses in Illinois: “While they won’t win every race, they will win the vast majority, and even in a loss, opposing innovation will be an expensive proposition.”
In 2024, Fairshake and its affiliates supported 53 candidates who ended up in Congress, losing in only five races, although many of the favored candidates were clear favorites. The super PAC was widely seen as establishing an industry model for a campaign finance strategy in which more than $100 million devoted to congressional elections (often primaries in districts where one party has a dominant position) can influence the results of dozens of seats. Fairshake deliberately did not design its political ads to reference its primary goal of encouraging cryptocurrencies, but rather made ads based on whatever major political vulnerabilities it saw in its opponents or positives it observed in its allies.
Fairshake has been very public about the $193 million war chest he began the campaign season with. The funds are not just an electoral tool. Lobbyists and cryptocurrency experts have acknowledged that it also acts as a warning to sitting lawmakers weighing cryptocurrency legislation now moving through Congress. Members know that their decisions on cryptocurrency bills could generate millions of dollars in support or opposition to their campaigns, often far exceeding the amount of money congressional campaigns can raise from direct donors.
“If you support pro-cryptocurrency policies, we will play a great role,” Vetter said. “If we oppose cryptocurrencies and American innovation, we will show up big. That message is now clear at both the state and federal levels.”
Some candidates Fairshake opposed in the past continued to support crypto initiatives, but Stratton criticized the “MAGA-backed crypto brothers” who opposed her. His crypto intentions in the Senate, if he gets there, remain to be seen.
Read More: Crypto PAC Fairshake Campaign Scores First Victories in 2026 US Congressional Primary
