Crypto PAC spends $11.4m against Sherrod Brown in Ohio Senate race
Defend American Jobs, tied to the Coinbase- and Ripple-backed group Fairshake, reported the spending in a filing, part of a pledged $30m push in Ohio.
Key points
- Defend American Jobs PAC reported spending $11.4m on media supporting Republican Jon Husted and opposing Democrat Sherrod Brown.
- The PAC is affiliated with Fairshake, which is backed by Coinbase and Ripple Labs.
- Fairshake pledged an initial $30m in the Ohio Senate race to try to block Brown.
- Brown is a former Senate Banking Committee chair who opposed pro-crypto legislation.
- In 2024, crypto-aligned PACs spent about $41m in Ohio opposing Brown and backing Bernie Moreno, who won with 50.2%.
A crypto-aligned political action committee has reported spending more than $11m on ads opposing Sherrod Brown in Ohio's Senate race, according to a filing. The Defend American Jobs PAC, which is affiliated with the Coinbase- and Ripple Labs-backed group Fairshake, disclosed the spending in a Thursday filing with the Federal Election Commission. The money went on media supporting Republican Jon Husted and opposing Brown's potential return to the Senate.
The ad buys appear to form part of Fairshake's pledge to spend an initial $30m in the Ohio race in an attempt to block Brown. Brown previously chaired the Senate Banking Committee and was one of the more outspoken voices in Congress against pro-crypto legislation and policies. Cointelegraph said it contacted both campaigns for comment and did not receive an immediate response.
Brown told Cointelegraph in an August 2025 inquiry after launching his Senate race that cryptocurrency is part of America's economy and is becoming more commonplace in Ohio and across the country. He said his goal was to ensure that as more people use cryptocurrency it expands opportunity and lifts up Ohioans without putting them at risk.
PAC reports $11.4m
The spending echoes the 2024 Ohio Senate race, when Brown was the incumbent and faced Republican Bernie Moreno. Outside groups including Fairshake spent more than $300m in that contest, and FEC records showed the crypto-aligned PAC and its affiliates alone spent about $41m to oppose Brown and support Moreno. Moreno won with 50.2% of the vote to Brown's 46.4%.
Husted was appointed to the Senate seat by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine after it was vacated by JD Vance, who was elected US vice president in 2024. The filing places the crypto industry's money alongside other Ohio races, where Vivek Ramaswamy, a co-founder of the digital asset management company Strive, is running for governor after winning the Republican nomination in May 2026.
Ramaswamy will face Democrat Amy Acton in November. Three co-founders of the Trump family's crypto company World Liberty Financial, Chase Herro, Zak Folkman and Zachary Witkoff, each donated the maximum $16,615 to his campaign. His PAC, V-PAC: Victors, Not Victims, also received $20m from Susquehanna International Group co-founder Jeff Yass, $6m from NYDIG founder Ross Stevens and $5,000 from the Bitcoin Voter Project.
Fairshake's Ohio pledge
The disclosures underline how crypto-funded committees are again concentrating money on Ohio contests, a state that helped decide Senate control in 2024. Fairshake's spending against Brown reflects the industry's effort to influence lawmakers who have taken a sceptical line on digital asset legislation.