Crypto campaign PAC Fairshake marks first wins in 2026 U.S. congressional primaries

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TL;DR

Fairshake PAC, the crypto industry's leading campaign finance group, has secured initial victories in the 2026 U.S. congressional primaries, backing pro-crypto candidates like Jessica Steinmann while pushing crypto critic Al Green into a runoff. The PAC spent millions on ads and supports candidates in Republican-leaning districts, aiming to expand its influence in Congress.

Key Takeaways

•Fairshake PAC achieved early wins in 2026 primaries, supporting pro-crypto candidates such as Jessica Steinmann in Texas, who won with nearly 70% of the vote.
•The PAC's major effort to unseat crypto critic Representative Al Green resulted in a close race requiring a runoff, with Green trailing his opponent.
•Fairshake backed multiple candidates in Texas and other states, including incumbents like French Hill and Tim Moore, who won their primaries with strong margins.
•With $193 million on hand, Fairshake is a dominant force in campaign finance, using ads that avoid direct crypto mentions to influence elections politically.
•The PAC's strategy focuses on supporting candidates in Republican-dominated districts to secure general election victories and expand pro-crypto representation in Congress.

Representative Al Green, a Texas Democrat (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) — Representative Al Green, recently ejected from President Donald Trump's state-of-the-union speech, is opposed by Fairshake. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

What to know:

The 2026 congressional elections are underway, with the first primaries held on Tuesday, and the initial results show several wins for pro-crypto candidates backed by the Fairshake PAC.
One of the super PAC's major efforts, however, was in getting crypto critic Representative Al Green out of office, and that race was close enough to warrant a runoff election. (Though Green trailed on Tuesday.)

The 2026 congressional elections are underway, with the first primaries held on Tuesday, and the initial results show several wins for pro-crypto candidates backed by the Fairshake PAC.
One of the super PAC's major efforts, however, was in getting crypto critic Representative Al Green out of office, and that race was close enough to warrant a runoff election. (Though Green trailed on Tuesday.)

The crypto industry's campaign-finance arm, the Fairshake political action committee, is already grinding out wins in the opening primaries of the 2026 U.S. congressional midterms, having supported several lower-profile candidates while also opposing a prominent, longtime congressman in Texas, Al Green.

A former Department of Justice lawyer backed by President Donald Trump, Jessica Steinmann, secured a dominant victory with almost 70% of the vote in the Republican primary for Texas' 8th District, according to state voting results. Among several candidates supported by Fairshake in Tuesday's contests, she was given the most, with more than $750,000 reported in the most recent Federal Election Commission filings.

Her campaign website described her as "a strong supporter of digital assets, blockchain technology, and financial innovation that expands economic freedom," and her primary win in a Republican-leaning district bodes well for a potential general-election victory in November.

"Voters responded to her commitment to strengthening the economy through innovation, and ensuring that emerging technologies, like crypto, create jobs and prosperity in her community," Fairshake said in a statement released after the primaries. With Steinmann and several other winners in these primaries, Fairshake will already count on some likely additions to its pro-crypto allies after the general election.

One of Fairshake's biggest Tuesday tests — its attempt to knock a veteran Texas Democrat, Green, from his seat — appears to be heading toward a runoff. Green has been among the more vocal Capitol Hill opponents of the crypto sector, voting against legislation and earning an "F" grade from advocacy group Stand With Crypto. But after Fairshake opposed Green with $1.5 million in ads, the longtime lawmaker trailed his Democratic opponent, pro-blockchain Christian Menefee, in the newly redrawn congressional district both incumbents were forced to pursue. Since neither candidate took more than half the vote, they head to a later runoff.

Also in Texas, Fairshake backed Republicans Chris Gober in the 10th, a conservative lawyer who founded Lex Politica to focus on political litigation and government investigations, and Trever Nehls in the 22nd, an Army veteran and Trump loyalist who is seeking to replace his identical twin brother in the seat. Gober won with more than 50% of the vote in a crowded field, and Nehls got 76%. Both districts have have been Republican-dominated, giving Fairshake's candidates a good chance to win the general election.

The super PAC had also supported Representative French Hill, the Arkansas Republican who is chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and the political tip of the spear in crypto legislation in the House of Representatives. Hill, supported with more than $400,000 in Fairshake ads, easily won his primary with 77%.

In North Carolina, the PAC backed a freshman incumbent, Republican Representative Tim Moore, who won 83% of the vote. His crypto voting record won him an "A" rating from Stand With Crypto, and Fairshake put more than $80,000 into his race.

The crypto industry's top PAC (and its two PAC affiliates) had $193 million on-hand at the start of the campaign season. Fairshake is by far the sector's dominant conduit for campaign contributions, so large that it's among the biggest PACs in the country, rivaling even the political parties' own campaign arms.

When it weighs into an election, it doesn't do so to influence voters' views on crypto. The ads Fairshake buys — without direct coordination with campaigns — make purely political arguments on behalf of or opposing a candidate, with no mention of digital assets. In the 2024 elections, it supported 53 candidates that are currently serving in Congress.

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