Crypto advocacy group Stand With Crypto has announced its first Senate endorsements for the 2026 elections, two weeks after the Senate failed to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.

According to The Block, the Coinbase-backed group will support Republican Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio, Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa and Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas of New Hampshire. The endorsements expand the group’s election campaign as it focuses on candidates’ positions on digital asset regulation.  The move follows the Senate’s Sept. 15 vote on the CLARITY Act, which failed to reach the 60 votes required to advance the legislation. Stand With Crypto has since updated its candidate scorecard to account for lawmakers’ votes on the bill.

Senate Push Expands

Husted is running in Ohio against former Sen. Sherrod Brown, while Hinson is seeking the Senate seat in Iowa. Pappas is running in New Hampshire, giving Stand With Crypto a slate of candidates across three Senate races. The organization has also expanded its activity in the House. After endorsing more than 30 House candidates, it added Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures of Alabama and Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa to its latest list.

Stand With Crypto also plans to increase advertising in six House races, including those involving Democratic Rep. Don Davis and Republican Rep. Bryan Steil. The group said the newly endorsed House candidates supported the CLARITY Act when it passed the House last year.

The advocacy group has more than 3 million members and has built a voter hub and candidate scorecard to track lawmakers’ positions on crypto policy. Its latest move places congressional voting records more directly at the center of its 2026 election strategy. The Senate’s 49-50 procedural vote on Sept. 15 did not represent a final rejection of the CLARITY Act. However, the result prevented the bill from moving forward in its current legislative sequence and left lawmakers with additional negotiations ahead.

Investor Takeaway

Stand With Crypto has started endorsing Senate candidates for the 2026 elections while expanding its House campaign, with lawmakers’ positions and voting records on the CLARITY Act playing a larger role in its candidate scorecard.

CLARITY Debate Continues

The Senate vote came after months of negotiations over how the U.S. should divide regulatory authority between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Lawmakers have also faced disagreements over state enforcement powers, stablecoin activity and the treatment of decentralized finance protocols. Before the Senate vote, attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C., called for the bill to be rejected in its current form, citing concerns over the impact on state-level crypto enforcement authority.

Before the vote, 18 state attorneys general urged changes to the bill, arguing that its provisions could weaken states’ ability to pursue certain crypto-related enforcement actions.

Senate Republicans had also revised the legislation before the vote, adding CFTC registration requirements for certain non-decentralized DeFi protocols. The change attempted to distinguish genuinely decentralized software from platforms that retain meaningful centralized control.

The legislation’s progress has also coincided with changes within the crypto industry’s lobbying groups. The Blockchain Association announced that CEO Summer Mersinger will leave the role in October, with founding executive Kristin Smith set to become interim CEO. The leadership change comes as the industry continues pushing for legislation covering digital asset market structure.

Investor Takeaway

The failed Senate vote has stalled the legislation as lawmakers continue to negotiate issues around federal regulatory authority, state enforcement powers and CFTC oversight of certain DeFi protocols.