Fairshake Affiliate Protect Progress Spends $362,000 on California House Race Already Settled in August

Protect Progress, an affiliate of the cryptocurrency-aligned Fairshake super political action committee (PAC), has reported spending $362,000 on advertising to support a Democratic incumbent in California's 14th congressional district — just weeks after she defeated the same opponent in a special election.

In a filing with the US Federal Election Commission (FEC) made public on Sunday, Protect Progress disclosed the expenditure on media backing incumbent Democrat Aisha Wahab in the Bay Area district, where she faces fellow Democrat Melissa Hernandez in the 2026 midterms. Super PACs such as Fairshake and its affiliates may raise unlimited sums from individuals, corporations and unions, provided they spend independently of the campaigns they support, and their expenditures are disclosed through filings with the FEC.

Wahab defeated Hernandez in an Aug. 18 special election with more than 53% of the vote, raising questions about why the cryptocurrency industry-aligned PAC is funding a rematch many observers consider largely decided.

Both Candidates Rated "Strongly Supports Crypto"

Notably, both Wahab and Hernandez were rated as "strongly supports crypto" after going on the record with the digital asset organization Stand With Crypto to complete questionnaires ahead of the August special election.

That contest was held to determine who would serve the remainder of Democrat Eric Swalwell's term, which ends in January 2027. Swalwell resigned in April amid sexual assault allegations. Because a special election fills only the balance of a departing lawmaker's term, the November rematch will decide who holds the seat for the full House term that begins in January 2027.

Fairshake launched in 2023, backed largely by contributions from Coinbase, Ripple Labs and Andreessen Horowitz. Since the 2024 US elections, the super PAC has spent tens of millions of dollars on candidates the group considers "pro-crypto," in an effort to fill Congress with lawmakers more likely to support policies favorable to the digital asset industry.

During an Oct. 7 debate, Wahab indicated that she opposed Hernandez for not denouncing expenditures from corporate PACs aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), adding that the spending "really deteriorated our democracy." Cointelegraph reached out to both the Hernandez and Wahab campaigns, as well as Fairshake, for comment on the spending but did not receive immediate responses.

One notable change between the August special election and the November midterms will be the boundaries of California's 14th district. The current boundaries, which include parts of San Francisco's East Bay, will be expanded in accordance with the state's Proposition 50, passed in 2025, which requires new maps for the midterm elections.

Fairshake Steps Up Spending in Ohio and Nebraska

Fairshake reported in January that it had $193 million in cash on hand ahead of the elections, and it had already deployed tens of millions of dollars to support Democratic and Republican candidates in primaries and special elections.

With just over two weeks until the 2026 election, Fairshake reported additional spending on media for Senate races in Ohio and Nebraska.

Defend American Jobs, a Fairshake affiliate that largely supports Republican candidates, reported spending more than $6.7 million to oppose Independent candidate Dan Osborn in Nebraska's Senate race. The affiliate also reported $8 million on media in Ohio, supporting incumbent Republican Jon Husted against Democrat Sherrod Brown in a race where it has spent more than $46 million so far.

Brown's race could be another bellwether for how the crypto industry potentially impacts the 2026 midterms. The Democrat lost his seat to Republican Bernie Moreno in 2024 after Fairshake and other interest groups spent a combined hundreds of millions of dollars on ads opposing Brown. Any additional spending by Fairshake and its affiliates in the closing stretch would be disclosed through FEC filings ahead of Election Day on Nov. 3.