Projected expenditures in presidential and congressional elections anticipated to reach close to $16 billion, setting new records, according to recent analysis.
Enhancing the financial stakes: scorching expenditures from external entities, including wealthy super PACs backing Republican candidates. External spending, predominantly through autonomous initiatives such as advertising, mailers, door-to-door campaigns, and other candidate-boosting activities, has reportedly reached around $2.6 billion. This is almost a billion dollars more than what such groups invested at this stage in the 2020 election, as per the research.
And with the anticipated surge in independent activities in the campaign's concluding weeks, OpenSecrets experts estimate that the overall external spending for the cycle will surpass $5 billion.
The top five highest contributors to external groups in this election cycle all support Republican candidates, with Timothy Mellon, an heir to the Mellon banking fortune, leading the way with a $125 million donation to a super PAC aiming to elect former President Donald Trump. This contribution has significantly strengthened the financial edge of conservative external groups in this election.
As stated by Brendan Glavin, OpenSecrets' deputy research director, "There might be a point of saturation where elections cannot become any more expensive, but we haven't reached it yet. Super PACs and billionaires continue to invest more and more, hoping to influence the selection of our elected officials. At this moment, it seems there isn't a cap to how much an American election can cost."
The super PAC supporting Trump's presidential campaign, Make America Great Again, Inc., is the leading spender among external entities with over $239 million invested in Trump's election efforts. The primary super PAC backing Vice President Kamala Harris – initially Future Forward, before she became the Democratic presidential nominee – has expended over $212 million.
The external support may prove instrumental to the former president.
Although Harris hasn't disclosed her September fundraising figures, she has consistently outraised Trump since her nomination as the Democratic presidential standard-bearer this summer and is on course to collect at least $1 billion in funds with the Democratic Party between late July and the end of September. In contrast, Trump and the Republican Party have raised approximately $430 million over the same period – including their September fundraising totals, the analysis reveals.
Similarly, congressional contests are witnessing record spending, as per OpenSecrets' statistics. At present, the party in control of each chamber – the Republicans in the House and the Democrats in the Senate – has an expenditure advantage in these races.
However, the disparity is most conspicuous in Senate races, where Democrats collectively have outspent Republicans by over $150 million as they strive to preserve their narrow majority in the chamber and safeguard several seats in states that previously supported Trump.
Politics played a significant role in the surge in external spending during this election cycle, with super PACs and wealthy individuals backing candidates from both parties. The anticipated expenses are estimated to surpass $5 billion, a stark increase from the 2020 election.
The financial edge of conservative external groups has been significantly strengthened by large donations, such as Timothy Mellon's $125 million to a super PAC supporting former President Donald Trump.
