2020 elections · final
The 2020 election cost $7.93B. Here's who was buying.
Every dollar reported to the FEC for the 2020 elections: what the campaigns raised, which PACs wrote the checks, and the outside money that super PACs poured in. All of it matched to who won, so you can see what the money bought.
Total money
$7.93B
471 races
PAC checks to candidates
$456M
From corporations, trade groups, unions and other politicians
Outside money
$2.47B
Super PACs and party groups, for or against
Bigger war chest won
84%
339 of 404 contested races
The trend
Four elections, one direction: more money, bought by fewer people
| 2026* | 2024 | 2022 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Money in House and Senate races | $5.77B | $4.66B | $4.34B | $5.13B |
| Outside money in those races | $2.96B | $1.65B | $1.26B | $1.49B |
| PAC checks to candidates | $426M | $458M | $426M | $456M |
| Bigger war chest won | 95% | 91% | 89% | 84% |
| Cost of a House seat, Republican | $2.5M | $3.8M | $3.1M | $3.4M |
| Cost of a House seat, Democrat | $5.0M | $4.2M | $4.3M | $2.9M |
| Dark money into super PACs | $343M | $568M | $260M | $232M |
| Ten biggest individual donors | $412M | $1.01B | $436M | $732M |
| Elon Musk: spent, % on winners | $87M, 0% | $192M, 95% | – | – |
| AIPAC: spent, % on winners | $54M, 39% | $38M, 86% | $26M, 74% | – |
| Crypto industry: spent, % on winners | $154M, 41% | $133M, 93% | $49M, 96% | – |
| Republican machine: spent, % on winners | $356M, 12% | $1.10B, 78% | $212M, 37% | $490M, 33% |
| Democratic machine: spent, % on winners | $565M, 100% | $1.13B, 27% | $562M, 79% | $882M, 50% |
* 2026 money is through the pre-election reports and most races are still being counted, so its numbers will grow. Presidential money (2024 and 2020) is left out of the first row so the cycles compare. Donor rows show n/a where the donor file has not been processed.
The verdict so far
The big spenders: did they get what they paid for?
Republican machine
GOP party committees and leadership-aligned super PACs
$490M spent · 33% of decided money on the winning side
America First Action · Preserve America PAC · NRSC · NRCC · Americans for Prosperity Action · Restoration PAC · Senate Leadership Fund · Congressional Leadership Fund
Democratic machine
Democratic party committees and leadership-aligned super PACs
$882M spent · 50% of decided money on the winning side
Senate Majority PAC · House Majority PAC · Priorities USA Action · Future Forward (FF PAC) · DCCC · DSCC · Independence USA PAC · Georgia Honor
Follow the money
236 rich people put up $1.50B of the outside money
Wasted the most
Donors whose money bought the most losing candidates.
- Miriam Adelson
Las Vegas Sands · gave $108M
$89M - Sheldon Adelson
Las Vegas Sands (died 2021) · gave $108M
$89M - Timothy Mellon
Banking heir (Mellon family) · gave $70M
$56M - Ken Griffin
Citadel · gave $63M
$53M - Richard Uihlein
Uline · gave $65M
$46M - Stephen Schwarzman
Blackstone · gave $44M
$40M - Majority Forward
Dark money · gave $61M
$38M - Michael Bloomberg
Bloomberg LP · gave $142M
$29M
Bought the most winners
Donors whose money landed on the winning side.
- Michael Bloomberg
Bloomberg LP · gave $142M
$113M - Future Forward USA Action
Dark money · gave $61M
$55M - Tom Steyer
Investor · gave $52M
$46M - Dustin Moskovitz
Asana / Facebook co-founder · gave $50M
$43M - America Votes
Company / nonprofit · gave $52M
$40M - Sixteen Thirty Fund
Dark money · gave $47M
$33M - Priorities USA
Company / nonprofit · gave $34M
$29M - Majority Forward
Dark money · gave $61M
$22M
Who bought the winners
$251M in corporate and trade-group checks went straight to the candidates
PAC checks by type of giver
$396M of it went to candidates who have already won.
Most winners bought
| Giver | Checks | Winners | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| California Real Estate Political Action Committee MembershipLobbyist PAC | 452 | 432 | $3.8M |
| Credit Union National Association Trade groupLobbyist PAC | 406 | 385 | $2.8M |
| National Beer Wholesalers Association Trade groupLobbyist PAC | 400 | 384 | $3.0M |
| Comcast Corporation CorporateLobbyist PAC | 364 | 354 | $2.6M |
| At&T Inc. CorporateLobbyist PAC | 363 | 353 | $2.5M |
| Valley Electric Association Inc., PAC Trade groupLobbyist PAC | 355 | 341 | $1.8M |
| National Air Traffic Controllers Association UnionLobbyist PAC | 355 | 335 | $2.4M |
| Lockheed Martin Corporation CorporateLobbyist PAC | 342 | 331 | $1.9M |
| Arkansas Bankers Association PAC Inc. Trade groupLobbyist PAC | 337 | 322 | $2.5M |
| United Parcel Service Inc. CorporateLobbyist PAC | 321 | 312 | $1.7M |
| Verizon Communications, Inc. Political Action Committee (Verizon PAC) CorporateLobbyist PAC | 313 | 305 | $1.3M |
| National Automobile Dealers Association Trade groupLobbyist PAC | 318 | 297 | $2.6M |
Bought and paid for
Winners who ran on PAC money
Did the money win?
The bigger war chest won 84% of contested races
Winner outraised the runner-up 10 to 1 or more
160 races
Between 2 and 10 times as much
122 races
Up to twice as much
57 races
Winner was outraised
65 races
The price of a seat
What each party paid per seat
White House
| Party | Result | Campaigns raised | PAC checks | Outside help | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republicans | Lost | $744M | $847K | $344M | $1.09B |
| Democrats | Won | $1.07B | $563K | $640M | $1.71B |
Senate (35 seats up)
| Party | Seats won | Campaigns raised | PAC checks | Outside help | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republicans | 20 | $773M | $54M | $380M | $1.15B |
| Democrats | 15 | $1.16B | $30M | $632M | $1.79B |
Money behind each seat won: Republicans $28M · Democrats $55M
House (435 seats)
| Party | Seats won | Campaigns raised | PAC checks | Outside help | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republicans | 213 | $770M | $160M | $161M | $931M |
| Democrats | 221 | $905M | $208M | $308M | $1.21B |
Money behind each seat won: Republicans $3.4M · Democrats $2.9M
Money down the drain
Most expensive losses
- 1Donald Trump$1.07B
President
- 2David A. Perdue$207M
Georgia Senate
- 3Kelly Loeffler$148M
Georgia Senate (special)
- 4Jaime Harrison$145M
South Carolina Senate
- 5Amy McGrath$113M
Kentucky Senate
- 6Sara I. Gideon$106M
Maine Senate
- 7Martha McSally$106M
Arizona Senate
- 8Theresa Greenfield$96M
Iowa Senate
- 9Cal Cunningham$88M
North Carolina Senate
- 10John James$88M
Michigan Senate
Couldn't be bought
Outraised but won anyway
- 1Susan Margaret Collins$28M vs
Maine Senate · beat Sara I. Gideon
$76M - 2Thom Tilllis$23M vs
North Carolina Senate · beat Cal Cunningham
$53M - 3Joni Ernst$28M vs
Iowa Senate · beat Theresa Greenfield
$56M - 4Mitch McConnell$68M vs
Kentucky Senate · beat Amy McGrath
$96M - 5Lindsey Graham$108M vs
South Carolina Senate · beat Jaime Harrison
$133M - 6Roger Marshall$6.8M vs
Kansas Senate · beat Barbara Bollier
$29M - 7Tommy Tuberville$9.6M vs
Alabama Senate · beat Doug Jones
$31M - 8Steve Daines$32M vs
Montana Senate · beat Steve Bullock
$50M - 9Dan Sullivan$9.0M vs
Alaska Senate · beat Al Gross
$20M - 10Cindy Hyde-Smith$3.4M vs
Mississippi Senate · beat Mike Espy
$12M
Bought it themselves
The biggest self-funders
- 1Kelly Loeffler$24M✗ Lost
Georgia Senate (special) · 26% of their money
- 2Corky Messner$6.1M✗ Lost
New Hampshire Senate · 85% of their money
- 3David J. Trone$2.5M✓ Won
Maryland 6th District · 86% of their money
- 4Lisa Scheller$2.5M✗ Lost
Pennsylvania 7th District · 65% of their money
- 5Nancy S. Goroff$2.3M✗ Lost
New York 1st District · 28% of their money
- 6Genevieve Collins$2.1M✗ Lost
Texas 32nd District · 35% of their money
- 7Michelle Steel$2.0M✓ Won
California 48th District · 31% of their money
- 8Lisa McClain$1.8M✓ Won
Michigan 10th District · 70% of their money
- 9Jim Oberweis$1.7M✗ Lost
Illinois 14th District · 52% of their money
- 10Margaret Streicker$1.6M✗ Lost
Connecticut 3rd District · 80% of their money
Where it all went