Crypto PAC Fairshake Spends $6.12M To Back Six House Candidates

Fairshake reported $6.12 million in independent spending to support six US House candidates in its filing covering 1st to 14th October 2026. The crypto funded political action committee’s 22nd October report divides that money almost equally between three Democrats and three Republicans, giving a detailed view of one part of its general election push.

The transactions put figures behind the six $1 million allocations Fairshake announced earlier in the month. Roll Call reported on 5th October that those candidates were part of a wider slate of 32 House incumbents, comprising 19 Republicans and 13 Democrats. The six reported allocations do not establish the final cost of that broader programme.

Six races, nearly equal allocations

Bored Node’s calculation of the report’s twelve media buying and production entries puts spending supporting the three Democrats at $3,050,950, compared with $3,064,916.36 for the three Republicans. Each candidate accounts for just over $1 million. This comparison covers Fairshake’s six House races in the reporting period, rather than the overall partisan balance of its affiliated committees.

The Democratic allocations were $1,020,173 supporting Janelle Bynum in Oregon’s 5th district, $1,015,019 for Steven Horsford in Nevada’s 4th and $1,015,758 for Derek Tran in California’s 45th. On the Republican side, the report records $1,019,964.48 for French Hill in Arkansas’s 2nd, $1,019,166.76 for Bill Huizenga in Michigan’s 4th and $1,025,785.12 for Bryan Steil in Wisconsin’s 1st.

These are payments to outside vendors for communications supporting the candidates. They are not donations received by the candidates’ campaigns. The Federal Election Commission defines independent expenditures as communications expressly advocating a candidate’s election or defeat that are made independently of the candidate and relevant party committees.

Each candidate’s total in the filing combines a media buy with a separate production payment. Fairshake’s 8th October notice already disclosed the same twelve transactions. Their appearance again in the later periodic report does not represent another $6.12 million of spending.

Transfers account for the larger cash movement

The same periodic report records $44.5 million transferred to Defend American Jobs: $15 million on 1st October, another $15 million on 8th October and $14.5 million on 14th October. That money moved between committees. It sits separately from Fairshake’s $6.12 million in independent expenditures, so counting the transfer again when the recipient pays for advertising would count the same funds twice.

Fairshake reported $50.95 million in total disbursements during the fortnight, including those transfers, the House spending and $332,475 in operating expenses. Its closing cash balance was $32.98 million on 14th October. That balance describes Fairshake itself at the end of the reporting period, rather than the combined resources of its affiliates heading into election day.

Reuters reported on 27th October that Fairshake and its affiliated committees had spent about $150.8 million through 20th October, with other crypto groups adding roughly $25 million. Those figures have a different scope and cutoff from Fairshake’s own fortnightly report.

The FEC’s official status record says its electronic filing system became available again at 20:50 UTC on 28th October following an outage.

Fairshake’s stated approach is bipartisan: spokesperson Geoff Vetter told Roll Call it backs candidates in both parties who support crypto innovation.