Fairshake’s political network is ramping up advertising ahead of the 2026 U.S. midterms, according to Federal Election Commission filings that detail millions of dollars in media spending by two PAC affiliates. The reports highlight how closely crypto-backed political spending is tied to candidates associated with clearer regulation for digital assets.

On Saturday, FEC disclosures showed the PAC affiliates Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress together reported $2.7 million in expenditures on media and direct mail production supporting candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives during the 2026 election cycle. The filings come with less than a month until Election Day.

Key takeaways

$2.7 million in combined media and direct mail spending was reported by Fairshake affiliates Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress in FEC filings.
Reported ad and mail production costs included $512,000 for California Rep. Pete Aguilar and $500,000 for New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer.
Additional reported spending targeted House figures including $76,000 for Majority Whip Tom Emmer and $73,000 for House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson.
Fairshake’s broader midterm strategy—backed by industry-linked political groups—has included trying to place “pro-crypto” candidates in Congress and opposing specific incumbents in other races.
Several of the House targets previously voted for the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, a bill aimed at establishing crypto market-structure rules.

FEC filings show targeted media and direct mail

The FEC filings reported spending by the two Fairshake affiliates that support candidates in the 2026 House contests. Specifically, the disclosures described expenditures on media and direct mail production used to back Democratic and Republican candidates running for seats in the House.

Among the named candidates referenced in the filings, the reported figures included:

More than $76,000 for House Majority Whip Tom Emmer
$73,000 for House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson
$512,000 for Pete Aguilar, a California representative
$500,000 for Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey representative

These candidate-focused expenditures are part of a broader pattern of crypto-related political engagement in federal races, where PAC spending is used to amplify which lawmakers are seen as aligned with industry policy goals.

How Fairshake’s endorsements are lining up across races

The FEC spending details arrived after Fairshake announced not long before that it planned to endorse additional House candidates for the 2026 cycle—bringing its planned slate to dozens more lawmakers. The earlier announcement included a promise of substantial supportive media funding for some of the newly listed candidates.

Notably, the candidates named in the Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress spending reports were not necessarily identical to the specific subset of endorsed House candidates described in Fairshake’s earlier announcement. Still, several of the lawmakers tied to the FEC expenditures—such as Emmer, Aguilar, Gottheimer, and Thompson—were part of the broader pool of House targets Fairshake had flagged as aligned with its agenda.

In its midterm build-out, Fairshake has also pursued a strategy that includes directing large resources toward particular races and political outcomes beyond House contests. As previously described by a Fairshake spokesperson in August, the PAC reported having $122 million in cash on hand as part of its effort to elevate pro-digital asset candidates.

That strategy has included allocating significant resources to try to defeat political opponents in other elections. Earlier reporting by Cointelegraph described how Fairshake aimed to oppose former Senate Banking Committee chair Sherrod Brown in Ohio’s Senate race, with at least $30 million allocated for media buys. According to that coverage, Brown had voted against multiple measures viewed as favorable to the crypto industry while in office.

The CLARITY Act vote remains a benchmark for “pro-crypto” candidates

The policy yardstick connected to these midterm efforts centers on market-structure rules for digital assets. The targets linked to Fairshake spending in the FEC reports all voted for the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act in 2025, a bill designed to establish regulatory authority and oversight for parts of the crypto market.

As described in the reporting, CLARITY was intended to set broader market structure rules for the industry and would have strengthened the federal commodities regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), in enforcing and overseeing related regulations. The bill passed the House with bipartisan support but did not move forward procedurally in the Senate in September, stalling its path to enactment.

After that procedural failure, Stand With Crypto—an initiative launched by Coinbase that ranks lawmakers based on their public statements and voting records—warned that candidates who failed to advance the legislation could face political consequences in the midterms. The organization has said it is working to mobilize crypto-minded U.S. voters, including efforts seen in the 2024 election cycle.

For investors and traders following U.S. crypto policy, the significance of these legislative references is that they connect campaign spending to concrete regulatory outcomes, rather than broader political branding. When a campaign slate repeatedly emphasizes specific bills—like CLARITY—it can signal where political leverage is being applied and what lawmakers may be expected to do next if elected.

What to watch as election pressure rises

As FEC reporting accumulates and final campaign resources flow, the immediate question is whether crypto-aligned political groups will continue to frame candidate support around advancing market-structure legislation or shift messaging in response to what happened in the Senate. Readers should also watch whether groups like Stand With Crypto intensify pressure in districts tied to stalled bills, and whether lawmakers who backed CLARITY face sharper scrutiny if future votes stall again.