Fairshake, a political action committee backed by crypto companies Ripple Labs and Coinbase, among others, reported additional spending on Illinois congressional races with the US midterm elections less than eight months away.
In a filing Sunday with the Federal Election Commission, Fairshake reported $16,000 in media buys to challenge Illinois state Rep. LaSean Ford in his 2026 U.S. Congressional run, plus about $1.8 million in 2026 campaign spending. It is planned to hold primary elections in the state on March 17.
The filing followed others from Friday and showed the PAC has spent more than $5.5 million to challenge Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, who is running as a Democrat for the U.S. Senate in the midterm elections. Protect Progress, a Fairshake-affiliated group that supports Democratic candidates, reported nearly $84,000 in support of Nikki Budzinski for her 2026 Illinois House bid and $90,000 in Illinois Senate race for Robin Kelly.
In total, the PAC and its affiliates have poured nearly $8.6 million into Illinois races, more than six times what it spent on races in the Midwest state in 2024, according to The Daily Northwestern. The committee, which has a larger portfolio of funds from the cryptocurrency industry and others, reported $193 million in its treasury in January and has publicly stated that it will “oppose anti-crypto politicians and support pro-crypto leaders” in 2026.
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Instead of supporting candidates directly through campaign donations, Fairshake and its affiliated groups typically fund campaigns to support or oppose politicians, often on issues completely unrelated to crypto politics. PACs are required to report expenditures and contributions to the Federal Election Commission.
Likely to influence the Texas primaries?
Fairshake has already filed for some state primaries in 2026 ahead of the midterm elections.
Last week, residents in North Carolina, Texas and Arkansas voted for some of the first candidates to be decided for the general election. Defense Progress has reportedly spent $1.5 million to challenge the re-election bid of Texas Representative Al Green, who has served in Congress since 2005.
While Democrat Christian Menefee, who advocacy group Stand With Crypto rates as “strongly pro-crypto,” didn’t win outright against Green, both candidates will move on to a runoff in May.
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