Crypto-focused super PACs have spent more than $176 million in more than 100 races during the 2026 U.S. midterm elections.
However, their biggest campaign ended in defeat after Democrat Sherrod Brown defeated Republican Jon Husted to win Ohio’s Senate race, despite a $64 million effort to stop him.
Brown Beats Husted Despite $64M Crypto Campaign
According to NBC figures, Brown got 2.24 million votes, or approximately 49.7% of the total cast, with Husted receiving 2.06 million, or 45.5%, with 97.3% of the votes counted.
Prior to this particular showdown, crypto groups had spent more than $64 million trying to prevent this exact outcome, with Fairshake, the industry’s flagship super PAC, accounting for $56.5 million in spending, and the Digital Freedom Fund, backed by the Winklevoss twins who co-founded the Gemini exchange, contributing another $7.5 million.
Brown frequently criticized the crypto industry when he was chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, but during the campaign he appeared to have softened his stance somewhat, even telling the New York Times that crypto “has a part, a role, in our economy.” Nonetheless, he vowed to take on what he called the “crypto/data center crowd.”
Recall that in 2024, Brown, who had served three terms as a senator from Ohio, lost to Republican Bernie Moreno, garnering 2.59 million (46.4%) votes to Moreno’s 2.8 million (50.2%). This race was the the biggest It was the only cryptocurrency target at the time and attracted more ad spending than any Senate contest in history, with the digital assets industry backing the Republican candidate with a $40 million war chest.
The latest spending hasn’t produced the same result, and researcher Molly White, who tracked which crypto and AI players backed it with their money, describe this is a “HUGE loss for crypto super PACs.”
Democrats take Congress
There was also losses for other industry-backed candidates in Texas, Alabama, Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan. But there was a reprieve in Colorado’s 8th District, where Democrat Manny Rutinel, who had gained support from groups including Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen’s You Can Push Back PAC, defeated incumbent Gabe Evans by a considerable margin.
Crypto groups also won in Nebraska, where Republican Pete Ricketts defeated independent Dan Osborn. Fairshake, funded primarily by Coinbase, venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz and Ripple, had spent about $14.1 million in the race to support Ricketts, who has supported industry-friendly crypto legislation from his seat on the Senate Banking Committee.
That said, the overall political situation has become less favorable to the industry, with Democrats securing control of the House and Senate. According to estimates at the time of writing, the party is expected to win 258 seats in the House and at least 54 in the Senate, after losing 29 and 7 seats in the respective chambers.
Before the results, CryptosRus had warned that a Democratic victory could further delay the CLARITY Act, which they blocked in September.
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