Crypto PAC Fairshake Plans $30M to Oppose Sherrod Brown

The cryptocurrency industry's largest political action committee, Fairshake, plans to spend at least $30 million to oppose former Senator Sherrod Brown's bid to return to the U.S. Senate in Ohio. The move is a direct response to the Senate's failure to pass the CLARITY Act, a key piece of crypto market structure legislation, on September 15, 2026. Fairshake, which is funded primarily by Coinbase, Ripple, and Andreessen Horowitz, confirmed the spending plan to reporters. The PAC's spokesperson linked the expenditure to the defeat of the CLARITY Act, which did not secure the 60 votes needed to advance. The bill aimed to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets by dividing oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Brown, a Democrat, is challenging Republican Senator Jon Husted in a special election on November 3, 2026. The winner will complete the remainder of the term vacated by Vice President JD Vance. Brown previously served as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee from 2021 until January 2025, a period during which he opposed several crypto-backed proposals.