Stand With Crypto answers the 49-50 Clarity Act defeat with three Senate endorsements
Coinbase-backed Stand With Crypto named its first three Senate endorsements two weeks after the Clarity Act failed 49-50. The group funds no campaigns itself, so its main Ohio pick depends on PAC money, starting with Fairshake's $30 million pledge for Jon Husted against Sherrod Brown.
The Investor · Invest desk
What happened
- Beyond Ohio's Jon Husted, the Senate picks are Iowa Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson and New Hampshire Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas, who faces former GOP Sen. John Sununu.
- In the House it added Iowa Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Alabama Democrat Shomari Figures, and it will increase advertising in six House campaigns.
- Senate Democrats voted as a bloc against advancing the Clarity Act, amid concerns over President Donald Trump's crypto dealings.
- Fairshake, the super PAC backing Husted, had spent $82 million on candidates across the country as of June, according to Cointelegraph.
Why it matters
- What it costs cost Fairshake's Ohio pledge alone equals about 15% of the roughly $200 million in crypto-aligned political spending this cycle, a large share of the industry's election money tied to one seat.
- Who's exposed exposure A Brown win would give crypto skeptics a powerful voice on the Senate Banking Committee, which is the outcome the Ohio money is meant to prevent.
- What it limits constraint Separate PACs decide which of the group's endorsements get funded, so the grade a candidate gets on its Voter Hub and the money behind that candidate can diverge.
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Fairshake affiliates direct $2.7 million to House members who all voted for CLARITY in 2025Confirmed2 publishers
The election push started before the defeat. In August, Stand With Crypto endorsed 32 House incumbents it called "proven digital asset policy champions" [6]. Cointelegraph dates the cloture vote to Sept. 15, and after it the group warned of "consequences" for lawmakers who did not back the bill [10]. It also said senators' votes would go on its public scorecard and that its supporters would judge them at the ballot box [11]. Executive director Mason Lynaugh has said the group's more than three million advocates are now fully focused on electing pro-crypto candidates, according to Decrypt [12].
Coinbase is connected to both the endorsements and the money. It launched Stand With Crypto in 2023 [2], and Fairshake is largely funded by contributions from Coinbase, Ripple Labs and Andreessen Horowitz [19]. Fairshake's Ohio pledge is large for one race and modest for that state. When Brown lost to Republican Bernie Moreno in 2024, outside groups spent more than $300 million in Ohio, according to Cointelegraph [18]. The $30 million opening figure is less than a tenth of that [22].
Most of the effort goes to the chamber that already passed the bill. The House approved it with bipartisan support in 2025, and it failed cloture in a Republican-controlled Senate [7]. The House side still has the 32 August incumbents, Wednesday's additions and all six advertising campaigns [6][5]. The Senate gets three candidates, two of them Republicans [16]. The group says it picks "regardless of party" [4]. Senate Democrats voted as a bloc, and the group's only Democratic Senate pick is Pappas, who sits in the House [21].
The midterms are 34 days away [9]. If Husted holds and Republicans keep the Senate, the bill goes back to the same chamber and faces the same Democratic bloc. Decrypt calls Ohio the main test of whether the industry's election machine can move votes, so a Brown win despite the money would count against it [15]. Many polls favor Democrats taking both chambers in 2027 [23]. That result would hand the next vote to the caucus that sank this one.
I think the Senate list is sized to make the scorecard threat credible, with Ohio as the proof. Three names change little in a chamber where the bill failed 49-50. The counter-case comes from the same vote. The Democrats' stated concern was the president's own crypto dealings [1], and that objection could fade without any seat changing hands. The view is wrong if Democrats who voted no come back to a revived bill whatever happens in Ohio.
What to watch
- The Ohio Senate result between Jon Husted and Sherrod Brown, where Fairshake's $30 million is on the line.
- Whether allied PACs start spending against senators who voted against cloture, which would put money behind the group's warning of consequences.
- Whether Senate leaders schedule another cloture vote on the Clarity Act before a new Congress is seated in 2027.
Information, not investment advice. This story is general information about companies and markets, drawn from cited reporting. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security; check the cited sources before acting.
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Reality
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- [1]
The Senate failed to advance the Clarity Act in a 49-50 vote, with Democrats voting as a bloc amid concerns over President Donald Trump's crypto dealings.
- [2]
Stand With Crypto, the advocacy group Coinbase launched in 2023, unveiled a bipartisan slate of Senate and House endorsements Wednesday, including its first Senate picks, roughly a month before November's midterms and two weeks after the Clarity Act collapsed in the Senate.
- [3]
The group's first Senate endorsements span three races: Republican Sen. Jon Husted in Ohio, who faces former Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown, a longtime crypto skeptic; Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson, running for a Senate seat in Iowa; and Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas, running in New Hampshire against former GOP Sen. John Sununu.
- [4]
The group said it picks candidates based on their crypto policy positions "regardless of party."
- [5]
House endorsements include Iowa Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Alabama Democrat Shomari Figures, and the group said it would ramp up advertising in six House campaigns.
- [6]
In August, Stand With Crypto endorsed 32 House incumbents it called "proven digital asset policy champions."
- [7]
The Clarity Act passed the House with bipartisan support in 2025 and failed to get enough votes for a cloture motion in the Republican-controlled Senate.
- [8]
The Fairshake PAC pledged to initially spend $30 million supporting Husted over Brown in Ohio.
- [9]
There were 34 days until the midterm elections at the time of the endorsements.
- [10]
After the failed CLARITY vote on Sept. 15, Stand With Crypto warned of "consequences" for lawmakers who did not support the bill.
- [11]
Stand With Crypto warned that senators' votes would be added to its public scorecard and that its supporters would judge lawmakers at the ballot box.
- [12]
Executive Director Mason Lynaugh has said the group's more than three million advocates are now fully focused on electing pro-crypto candidates.
- [13]
Unlike super PACs, Stand With Crypto doesn't make direct campaign contributions, instead focusing on voter mobilization and grading candidates through its Voter Hub.
- [14]
Combined crypto-aligned political spending has approached roughly $200 million for the 2026 cycle.
- [15]
Brown's return would hand crypto skeptics a powerful voice on the Senate Banking Committee, making Ohio a marquee test of whether the industry's electoral machine can move votes.
- [16]
The three-candidate Senate slate includes two Republicans (Husted, Hinson) and one Democrat (Pappas).
- [17]
Fairshake had spent $82 million on candidates across the country as of June.
- [18]
Sherrod Brown lost to Republican Bernie Moreno in 2024 after outside groups spent more than $300 million in Ohio.
- [19]
The Fairshake PAC is largely backed by contributions from Coinbase, Ripple Labs and Andreessen Horowitz.
- [20]
Fairshake's initial $30 million Ohio pledge is about 15% of the roughly $200 million in crypto-aligned political spending for the 2026 cycle.
- [21]
No sitting Democratic senator is on the slate: its only Democratic Senate pick, Pappas, is a House member, and Senate Democrats voted as a bloc against the bill.
- [22]
Fairshake's $30 million opening pledge is less than a tenth of the more than $300 million outside groups spent in Ohio in 2024.
- [23]
Many polls show Democrats are favored to regain control of the House and Senate in 2027.
Sources
2 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- cointelegraph.comCrypto advocacy group announces picks for US Congress as midterms loom
1 article · September 30, 2026
- decrypt.coCoinbase-Backed Crypto Group Reveals Midterm Endorsements After Clarity Act Collapse
2 articles · October 1, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- Crypto market-structure legislation
- US 2026 midterm elections
- Crypto Political Spending