FairShake, a political action committee backed by crypto companies Ripple Labs and Coinbase, has reported additional spending for the Illinois state election, less than eight months before the U.S. midterm elections.
In a filing with the Federal Election Commission on Sunday, FairShake reported $16,000 in media buys to run against Illinois Rep. LaSean Ford, who is running for U.S. Congress in 2026, adding to the roughly $1.8 million it spent on his 2026 campaign. The state’s primary election is scheduled for March 17th.
The filing follows other filings Friday that revealed the PAC spent more than $5.5 million to run against Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton, who is running for the U.S. Senate as a Democrat in the midterm elections. Protect Progress, a FairShake affiliate that supports Democratic candidates, reported that it spent about $84,000 to support Nikki Budzinski’s 2026 run for the Illinois House of Representatives, and $90,000 for Robin Kelly’s run for the Illinois Senate.
The PAC and its affiliates poured a total of about $8.6 million into the Illinois election, six times the amount spent in the Midwest state’s 2024 elections, according to the Daily Northwestern. The committee has a larger war chest from sources such as the crypto industry, with a reported $193 million in its coffers as of January, and has vowed to “oppose anti-crypto politicians and support pro-crypto leaders” in 2026.
Rather than directly supporting candidates through campaign contributions, FairShake and its affiliates typically fund ads supporting or opposing politicians, often on issues completely unrelated to crypto policy. PACs must report their spending and contributions to the Federal Election Commission.
Could it affect the Texas primary?
FairShake is already moving toward some of the early state primaries ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Last week, residents of North Carolina, Texas and Arkansas voted for some of the first candidates to be decided in the general election. Protect Progress reportedly spent $1.5 million opposing the re-election of Texas Congressman Al Green, who has served in Congress since 2005.
Democrat Christian Menefe, who advocacy group Stand with Crypto describes as a “strong supporter of cryptocurrencies,” did not defeat Greene outright, but both candidates will face a runoff in May.
