Sherrod Brown is returning to the US Congress after earning more votes than Jon Husted, the Republican candidate on the ballot for the same Ohio Senate seat when the election results came in late Tuesday.
Husted’s loss was a rare defeat for the crypto industry, which broadly saw strong returns on its big spending. Ironically, the Ohio race was a top priority in this election cycle, as reflected in the amount committed.
With the polarizing topic of data centers contributing to Husted’s sinking in Ohio, Brown, a longtime industry critic, could soon head a committee overseeing digital assets and prediction markets.
How much did crypto backers spend on the Ohio Senate race?
Cryptopolitan reported in the middle of October that Democratic candidate Sherrod Brown was up against a $52.6 million war chest fronted by crypto-backed committees. Per a Federal Election Commission filing, Defend American Jobs, an affiliate of crypto’s main Fairshake super PAC, accounted for more than $46 million by itself.
The final total spent on keeping Brown out of Capitol Hill ran past the $30 million minimum that Fairshake indicated it was willing to commit to the Ohio race in September.
Brown was also a priority target for the crypto lobby in 2024 when his loss to Bernie Moreno was facilitated with about $40 million in support for the opposition.
Brown drew attention for labeling and targeting crypto as a tool for money laundering and sanctions evasion in his role as the chair of the Senate Banking Committee.
Crypto spenders also backed Democrats
Despite Husted’s loss in Ohio, crypto backers still had candidates on both sides of the political aisle pull off wins, even ones that seemed unlikely.
Democrats Chris Pappas and James Talarico, supported by the Stand With Crypto advocacy group, won New Hampshire and Texas, respectively. Talarico, a supporter of the state’s strategic Bitcoin reserve, beat Attorney General Ken Paxton, who ran under Republican colors.
Two other Democratic Senators who have engaged in crypto legislation talks, Cory Booker and Mark Warner, also won.
Data centers dealt a big blow to Husted
The issue of affordability was a priority for American voters this cycle, and Brown had his finger on the pulse of the issue in the run-up to election day. They even ran ad campaigns to make Husted the face of rising electricity bills caused by the data centers he helped bring to the state, as Cryptopolitan has reported.
How data centers became the sharp edge of an affordability campaign
Tuesday’s results vindicated the strategy, with CBS News exit polls reporting that Brown saw massive support from younger voters, independents and Ohio residents concerned about the economy and those who opposed standing up new data center facilities in their communities.
CNN reported , citing an August memo being circulated by the Republicans’ campaign arm, that they had fingered data centers as “the anchor hanging around Husted’s neck.”
Before the final blow landed yesterday, Senate Democrats had primed Husted for this loss when they blocked his Ratepayer Protection Act in September. That bill was supposed to prevent data center energy costs from trickling down to ordinary Americans.
Will a Democrat now have oversight on digital assets and prediction markets?
Brown’s return matters beyond the seat count. Democrats took the Senate, flipping races in Texas, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kansas and Iowa to reach 51. That gives the party control of the committees that oversee the industry.
With the majority, Brown could chair the Senate Agriculture Committee, which has jurisdiction over digital assets and prediction markets.
As chair, Brown would be unlikely to move any crypto bill. Prediction markets are scaling quickly, and Senate Banking Democrats spent the fall pressing for public scrutiny of platforms such as Kalshi.
The result also clouds the CLARITY Act, the industry’s effort to set rules for digital assets. The bill failed a Senate procedural vote 49 to 50 in September. If it does not pass by January, the next Congress starts from scratch.
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