Crypto PAC pours $362K into California race voters essentially decided in August

Protect Progress, an affiliate of the cryptocurrency-aligned Fairshake super political action committee (PAC), reported spending $362,000 on ads to support a Democrat in California’s 14th congressional district, just weeks after she won a special election against the same opponent. 

According to a Sunday filing with the US Federal Election Commission (FEC), Protect Progress reported spending $362,000 on media supporting incumbent Democrat Aisha Wahab in the Bay Area district against her fellow party member, Melissa Hernandez.

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 supporting her in the 2026 midterms. 

Notably, both Wahab and Hernandez were ranked as “strongly supports crypto” after they went on the record with the digital asset organization Stand With Crypto to complete questionnaires ahead of the August special election. That election was used to determine who would replace Democrat Eric Swalwell for the remainder of his term, ending January 2027. Swalwell resigned in April amid sexual assault allegations. 

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 efforts to fill Congress with lawmakers more likely to support policies favorable to the digital asset industry.