Losing a race is unusual for the crypto industry’s political action committee, Fairshake, which has posted a dominant record in the past two congressional elections. But the Illinois primary this week saw its biggest setback ever, and it will likely end with a new member of the Senate next year being 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 lean means she’s likely to be its next senator after the November general election. One of Fairshake’s affiliates had spent millions buying opposition ads in that race and endorsing two of her opponents — representing more than 5% of the funds said to be available this year for congressional contests.
Not only did that money fail to win the outcome the group was aiming for, but Stratton may end up joining the 100-member Senate, where a single lawmaker can have a very potent influence, and she’ll be well aware of industry efforts to oppose her. Crypto advocacy group Stand With Crypto, which evaluates politicians and political candidates, rated Stratton an “F” on digital asset issues, even though she doesn’t have a significant personal record on crypto policy aside from the state’s anti-industry regulatory regime signed by her boss last year.
“If you support pro-crypto policies, we will show up big,” Fairshake spokesman Geoff Vetter said in a statement. “If you’re against crypto and American innovation, we’re going to show up big. That message is now clear at both the state and federal levels.”
The industry had mixed results in Illinois, supporting three pro-crypto candidates who won their primaries and another who did not. A person familiar with the PAC’s strategies said it viewed the loss as a one-off and that other candidates it opposes are unlikely to have similar campaign resources at their disposal.
Starting with the 2024 election, Fairshake — primarily backed by Coinbase, a16z and Ripple — has targeted several Senate races, spending more than $10 million trying to influence the outcome. In its biggest spend of the last cycle, it set aside a whopping $40 million to oppose former Sen. Sherrod Brown, the Ohio Democrat who, as former chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, stood in the way of crypto legislation. (Brown is attempting a comeback this year, although Fairshake has yet to announce his plan for Brown’s challenge to Sen. Jon Husted.)
La Shawn Ford, who won his Illinois 7th congressional district primary to potentially run for the House next year, was another of Fairshake’s targets in a race where the PAC spent nearly $2.5 million. He accused the PAC of pumping out misleading and defamatory allegations in its ads. Although he may represent a future political opponent for the sector, Fairshake celebrated victories for Donna Miller, Melissa Bean and incumbent Rep. Nikki Budzinski in other House races in that state.
In 2024, Fairshake and its affiliates endorsed 53 candidates who ended up in Congress, losing in only five races, although many of the favored candidates were clear front-runners. The super PAC was widely considered to establish an industry model for a campaign finance strategy in which more than $100 million committed to congressional races (often primaries in districts where one party holds a dominant position) can influence the outcome of dozens of seats. Fairshake purposefully did not craft its political ads to refer to its own main goal of promoting crypto, but instead made ads based on the biggest political vulnerability it saw in opponents or positive points it noticed in allies.
Fairshake has been very public about the $193 million war chest it started the campaign season with. The funds are not just an election tool. Crypto lobbyists and insiders have acknowledged that it also serves as a warning to sitting lawmakers weighing crypto legislation now moving through Congress. Members know that their decisions on crypto bills can bring either millions of dollars in support or opposition to their campaigns, often far exceeding the amount congressional campaigns can raise from direct donors.
Fairshake doesn’t expect to win everything, but it expects to win most of the races it gets involved in, the person said, and that will make it clear that opposition to crypto innovation will be costly for politicians.
Some candidates Fairshake previously opposed continued to support crypto initiatives, but Stratton criticized the “MAGA-backed crypto bros” who opposed it. Her crypto intentions in the Senate, if she gets there, are yet to be seen.
Read more: Crypto campaign PAC Fairshake marks first wins in 2026 US congressional primaries
