Five crypto-focused super PACs reported about $168.1 million in candidate-related independent spending during the 2025–2026 election cycle, backing 78 candidates who won seats in Congress. Only 13 of those winners are entering Congress for the first time; most already have Washington experience. In Ohio, a roughly $64 million Senate effort supporting Jon Husted and opposing Sherrod Brown ended in defeat. The results show the industry backing experienced lawmakers while facing costly setbacks and disagreements over policy.
The spending covered both support for candidates and opposition to their rivals, not just races won by the groups’ preferred candidates. Under the Federal Election Commission’s definition, independent expenditures advocate for a candidate’s election or defeat and cannot be coordinated with a candidate’s campaign or a political party. They are not direct contributions to candidates. The figures are compiled through November 10, 2026; results remain preliminary and have not been fully certified. Some spending figures are estimates or notices of amounts not yet paid. The data therefore do not establish that PAC support caused a candidate to win, or predict how lawmakers will vote.
Only 13 of 78 backed winners are new to Congress
Of the 78 supported winners, 57 stayed in the same chamber, five moved from the House to the Senate, and three former members returned to Congress. First-time members account for about one-sixth of the total. Overall, the spending was more concentrated on retaining established lawmakers than bringing a large number of newcomers to Washington.
The timing of the spending also matters. The five committees did not back 50 of the eventual winners during the general-election phase. Of those 50, 47 received support only in 2026 primaries or runoffs, while three were backed only in 2025 special elections. All 13 newcomers received support during a primary or runoff. Primary spending can help determine which candidate represents a party in the general election, but it does not mean a committee will continue funding that candidate afterward.
New members bring different crypto policy records
Among the 13 newcomers, Adrian Boafo and Jasmine Clark received the largest amounts: $5 million and $4 million, respectively, both from Protect Progress. All of that spending came during the primary phase. Together, their support accounted for about 67% of the $14 million spent backing newcomers.
Boafo will succeed Steny Hoyer in Maryland’s 5th Congressional District. In July 2025, Hoyer voted against both the House CLARITY market-structure bill and the GENIUS stablecoin bill. Boafo has worked on crypto-related legislation at the state level. A bill he introduced to establish a Maryland blockchain and digital currency task force was approved in May 2026. The task force is to study uses and regulation of the technologies and submit recommendations by October 2027.
Boafo also introduced a separate bill on staking services, including restrictions and a securities-law exemption for qualifying services. The legislative record shows that the bill received a hearing, but does not show that it became law. His state-level work provides context for his involvement in federal policy debates, but does not determine how he will vote.
Clark will represent Georgia’s 13th Congressional District. David Scott, who represented the district for many years, also voted against the two bills in 2025. However, Scott’s immediate successor was Everton Blair, who took over the remainder of Scott’s term after his death; Scott’s past votes do not establish Blair’s position. Clark’s campaign questionnaire said she supports individuals holding crypto in self-hosted wallets and supports the broad circulation of stablecoins. Her approach to related legislation in Congress remains to be seen.
Ohio’s $64 million Senate effort failed to unseat Brown
The largest reported investment in a single contest by the five committees ended with their preferred candidate losing. Defend American Jobs and Digital Freedom Fund reported spending $40 million to support Husted and $24 million to oppose Brown in the Ohio Senate race. Brown won.
The roughly $64 million spent in Ohio amounted to about 38.1% of the committees’ reported total, nearly matching the approximately $64.4 million spent supporting all 78 winning candidates. The figures are not directly comparable: the Ohio total combines support for one candidate with opposition to another, while the winners’ figure counts support spending only. Brown was one of seven candidates who won despite opposition spending by the committees.
The result highlights the cost of a single failed contest, which is not apparent from the overall list of winners. As crypto-backed candidates enter Congress, some elected lawmakers were also targets of spending intended to defeat them.
Backed Senate winners skew Republican; House results are closer
Democrats and Republicans each accounted for 39 of the 78 winners. The breakdown differed by chamber: seven of the eight supported Senate winners were Republicans, with Virginia Democrat Mark Warner the sole exception. Among the 70 supported House winners, 38 were Democrats, or 54.3%, and 32 were Republicans, or 45.7%. These figures cover only candidates backed by the five committees and do not represent the party composition of Congress as a whole.
Democratic control of both chambers will shape committee leadership and the legislative agenda. The equal overall split among the supported winners does not mean the Senate group was evenly divided. Nor is the list a complete count of lawmakers who support crypto legislation. Some senators continuing in office did not face election in this cycle and are not included among the 78.
Hill, Barr and Warner reflect competing paths for crypto legislation
Arkansas Republican Representative French Hill won re-election. He sponsored the House CLARITY Act, which would divide digital-asset market oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Hill voted for both the CLARITY Act and the GENIUS Act in July 2025. Defend American Jobs and Fairshake reported a combined $1 million in support for him during the primary and general-election phases.
Hill helped secure House passage of the CLARITY Act by a 294–134 vote. With Democrats controlling Congress, leadership of the House Financial Services Committee will change. Hill’s role in the next Congress, and whether lawmakers can reach a new bipartisan compromise on the bill, remain uncertain.
Kentucky Republican Andy Barr is moving from the House to the Senate. Defend American Jobs and Fellowship provided a combined $8 million in primary support. Barr voted for both House crypto bills and previously chaired the Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial Institutions. He enters the Senate with a record of voting for the House version of the proposed market framework.
Warner’s votes illustrate differences over which crypto legislation lawmakers will support. He backed the GENIUS Act in June 2025 but opposed advancing the CLARITY Act in September 2026. Warner said the proposal did not adequately restrict the president and senior officials from profiting from crypto businesses. He supports a federal regulatory framework but argued that the bill as drafted fell short on ethics safeguards.
On September 15, 2026, the Senate voted 49–50 on a procedural motion to advance consideration of the proposal, and the motion failed. Warner’s vote concerned the procedural step to bring the bill forward; it was not a rejection of every form of market-regulation legislation. Even where lawmakers support stablecoin rules and a federal framework, conflict-of-interest restrictions may remain a point of negotiation.
Exchange, stablecoin and tax rules are at different stages
Congress has yet to negotiate a federal framework for exchanges. The House version of the CLARITY Act would establish rules for digital-commodity trading, including registration requirements and customer-protection obligations. How oversight is divided among agencies will affect which rules platforms must follow and who enforces them. Hill helped draft the bill, Barr supported the House version, and Warner has identified conditions that he believes must be addressed before it advances. If Congress does not complete the legislation in this session, it will need to be reintroduced in the next.
Stablecoin regulation has moved into implementation. The GENIUS Act became law in July 2025, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency finalized implementing rules in October 2026. The law and rules are scheduled to take effect on January 18, 2027, covering reserve assets and users’ ability to redeem stablecoins for dollars. A related Federal Reserve document issued in September 2026 remains a proposal. Congress will oversee implementation and could also amend the law, so support for the original bill does not mean every rule for issuers and users is settled.
Tax relief remains a proposal. Nevada Democratic Representative Steven Horsford received $1 million in Fairshake support during the general-election phase and voted for both House crypto bills. He was also an original sponsor of a digital-asset tax proposal. The measure advanced in the House Ways and Means Committee in September 2026 by a 38–5 vote but has not become law.
The text of H.R. 10357 proposes simplified tax treatment for qualifying dollar stablecoins and exclusions for gains and losses on eligible network or transaction fees of no more than $10 per underlying transaction. Under current treatment, taxpayers may have to track the cost basis and value at the time of payment for tokens used to pay fees. The proposal would remove those calculations for qualifying fees; it would not create a general tax exemption for small crypto purchases. It also includes simplified recordkeeping and limits loss claims when an asset is sold and quickly repurchased in substantially identical form. The committee adopted a substitute text during consideration, and the proposal still needs to proceed through the legislative process.