Former Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, who lost his US Senate position in 2024 to Republican Bernie Moreno amid over $40 million in expenditures supported by the crypto sector, has initiated an election campaign for 2026.
In a Saturday announcement, Brown stated he intends to contend for Republican Senator Jon Husted’s seat in the 2026 US midterm elections — Moreno, who triumphed over Brown in 2024, won’t seek reelection until 2030.
The ex-senator, who was one of the more vocal advocates on crypto in the last Congress session, was defeated by Moreno with over 46% of the electorate after a digital asset-supported political action committee (PAC) spent an excess of $40 million on advertising.
“I never intended to run for office again,” Brown noted in a Saturday X post. “But I observe what’s occurring in Washington, and I can’t remain inactive. It’s a government serving the affluent and influential at the cost of ordinary workers. I’m committed to altering that.”
During his tenure in Congress as one of Ohio’s two senators from 2007 to 2025, Brown was the chair of the Senate Banking Committee for four years and one of the more vocal figures advocating for comprehensive crypto legislation “in the aftermath of FTX’s collapse” in 2022.
Although many analysts have suggested that Republicans will retain majority control of the Senate after 2026, Brown’s prospective return to the chamber might indicate that Ohio voters are dissatisfied with their existing representation.
What transpired during the 2024 election in Ohio?
Defend American Jobs, a PAC linked with Fairshake, a committee significantly funded by contributions from cryptocurrency firms Coinbase and Ripple Labs, expended over $40 million on advertising to support Moreno. Overall, the Ohio Senate contest was among the most costly in the state’s history, with reports indicating that various entities had spent more than $480 million on both sides.
Fairshake, whose affiliates Defend American Jobs largely backed Republican candidates while Protect Progress supported Democrats, reportedly spent $131 million to endorse and oppose candidates during the 2024 congressional elections. Consequently, approximately 270 lawmakers who were considered “pro-crypto” by the Coinbase-aligned advocacy group Stand With Crypto were elected or reelected.
In July, Fairshake disclosed holding approximately $141 million in resources to be utilized to influence the 2026 midterm elections. The PAC and its two affiliates invested over $2 million to support candidates in special congressional elections in 2025 for three House seats in Virginia and Florida.
“Last year, voters conveyed a clear message that the Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren agenda were profoundly out of touch with Ohio values,” Fairshake spokesperson Josh Vlasto told Cointelegraph. “We will persist in backing pro-crypto candidates and opposing anti-crypto candidates, in Ohio and nationally.”
Will the former senator modify any of his policy stances following his 2024 defeat?
In Brown’s absence, under a Republican majority in both the House of Representatives and Senate and endorsement from US President Donald Trump, Congress advanced the passage of the GENIUS Act to regulate payment stablecoins in 2025.
Trump signed the legislation into law in July, and the House forwarded bills for consideration regarding crypto market structure and central bank digital currencies to the Senate, which will be in recess until September.
Related: US Senate Republicans unveil draft bill for crypto market structure
In one of his final communications to the Senate Banking Committee in December before leaving office, Brown cautioned that Trump was “opening up our government to the highest corporate bidder” and urged the committee to be ready to tackle challenges related to AI and crypto.
His initial campaign message, shared on Monday, centered on “advocating for workers,” concerns about healthcare expenses and the current trajectory of the government under the Trump administration.
“Cryptocurrency is part of America’s economy and is becoming increasingly prevalent in Ohio and across the nation,” Brown conveyed to Cointelegraph. “Just like what drives all my efforts, my objective is to ensure that as more individuals utilize cryptocurrency, it fosters opportunities and uplifts Ohioans without putting them at risk.”
A Bowling Green State University Democracy and Public Policy Research Network poll released in February showed Husted ahead by six points in a theoretical race against Brown, who had not declared his Senate bid at that moment.
Husted, appointed by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine to succeed then-Senator JD Vance after his resignation upon being elected US vice president, can serve until a special election in November 2026. Out of the Senate’s 100 seats, 35 will be contested in the midterms.
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