This year’s U.S. midterm elections could cost as much as $12 billion. Since the Supreme Court changed campaign finance law in 2010, an OpenSecrets analysis of data released by the Federal Election Commission indicates that once all reports are in, we will be looking at yet another record-setting election.
Total spending on the 2026 campaign is preliminarily estimated at $11.9 billion. In 2022, the midterms cost $8.9 billion. For example, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who is seeking reelection, put $65 million of his own money into his campaign just through August, and nearly $12.5 million of that went to television advertising. In October, the campaign account of his Republican rival, Darren Bailey, held less than half a million dollars.
The midterm elections are Tuesday, Nov. 3. It is worth noting that the increase in spending is being driven by outside money, coming mainly from super PACs. In 2022, outside spending totaled $2 billion. The analysis shows that in 2026 that figure is set to reach $3.9 billion, an increase of 85%. As outside spending has grown, so have contributions from “dark money” sources to the super PACs funding the elections. This year’s total for the midterms, at $1.47 billion, has already surpassed the $1.35 billion from 2024, which covered both congressional and presidential elections.
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Source: Polski.FM
