Huizenga Defeated in House Race Following $1M Crypto PAC Support

Rep. Bill Huizenga, who serves as the No. 2 Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, was defeated in his reelection race by Democrat Sean McCann, according to an Associated Press call on Wednesday afternoon. The loss came despite approximately $1 million in backing from the cryptocurrency super PAC Fairshake.

With upwards of 97% of the ballots tallied earlier in the day, McCann held a 50.1% to 48.3% lead over Huizenga in Michigan’s 4th Congressional District, translating to a margin of about 7,000 votes out of nearly 300,000 cast. Entering Tuesday, the contest had been classified as “lean Republican.”

Huizenga—an eight-term congressman and the vice chair of the committee—stands as the highest-ranking Republican on the panel to be defeated. However, he is not the sole crypto supporter on the committee to fall.

Rep. Bryan Steil of Wisconsin, leader of the Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Artificial Intelligence, lost his seat to Democrat Mitchell Berman by a 52% to 48% margin. That race was called by the AP at 11:48 p.m. Tuesday.

Additionally, Rep. Ann Wagner of Missouri, who heads the capital markets subcommittee, was defeated by Democrat Fred Wellman. Rep. Zach Nunn of Iowa lost to state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, and Rep. Mike Lawler of New York conceded to Democrat Cait Conley prior to the AP calling his race.

Fairshake’s $1 million bets come up short

In October, Fairshake allocated a minimum of $1 million to each of six House incumbents, including Huizenga, Steil, and committee Chairman French Hill of Arkansas. Federal Election Commission records show the super PAC spent $1,019,166 to back Huizenga during the general election.

As reported by CNBC, all 32 House incumbents supported by the Fairshake network this autumn voted in favor of the CLARITY Act when it cleared the House by a 294-134 vote in July 2025. The network began September holding roughly $120.4 million in cash.

Crypto funding accounted for only a fraction of the total spending in Huizenga’s district. FEC records indicate that outside groups poured more than $25 million into the race, with the House Majority PAC alone directing roughly $6 million against the incumbent Republican.

Two of Fairshake’s three $1 million Republican endorsees on the committee have now lost their midterms. As of Wednesday afternoon, the AP had not yet called Chairman Hill’s race, where he maintained a lead over Democrat Chris Jones of about 4,400 votes—representing 50.9% to 49.1%—with 99% of the anticipated vote counted.

What the losses mean for crypto in the House

Democrats secured control of the House on Tuesday, transferring the committee gavel to their caucus regardless of Hill’s final outcome. Rep. Maxine Waters of California, the committee’s top Democrat and its chair from 2019 to 2023, is positioned to reclaim the leadership role. Politico reported that 19 Financial Services Democrats backed her in October over a potential challenge from Rep. Sean Casten of Illinois.

Steil’s defeat also leaves the digital assets subcommittee without a leader, a panel on which Huizenga also served. Journalist Eleanor Terrett pointed out that the subcommittee’s title, jurisdiction, and membership are established fresh each Congress, leaving Democrats free to rename, restructure, or dissolve it entirely.

Huizenga contributed to advancing the stablecoin legislation signed into law by President Donald Trump in 2025 and directed the committee’s oversight investigations into former SEC Chair Gary Gensler during the Biden administration.

The cryptocurrency sector’s primary legislative objective remains the CLARITY Act, which failed to clear a Senate cloture vote on September 15 by a 49-50 margin. Meanwhile, House Democrats are actively evaluating their own market structure legislation that grants a more expansive role to the SEC.

Crypto organizations deployed massive financial resources—committing about $176 million across more than 100 races this election cycle—to prevent this exact scenario. The defeats of Huizenga and Steil strip the committee of two key Republicans who helped shape crypto policy, with both seats flipping to Democrats.

Bitcoin’s price actually climbed following the Democratic sweep, even as the industry’s legislative allies lost their seats.