The big picture
Who bought 2020, in eight panels
The price
The 2020 election cost $8.47B.
84%
of 404 contested races went to the candidate with more money
$3.02B
outside money: super PACs, party committees, dark money
18
incumbents lost, of 417 who ran
$5.46B raised by the candidates themselves, $3.02B spent around them by super PACs and party groups.
The verdict →Who paid
Michael Bloomberg put in $142M. 67% of it won.
- Michael Bloomberg$142M67% won
- Miriam Adelson$108M30% won
- Sheldon Adelson$108M30% won
- Timothy Mellon$70M37% won
- Richard Uihlein$65M24% won
- Ken Griffin$63M38% won
400 people, companies and nonprofits gave $250K or more to outside spenders, $2.57B between them. The bar is where each one's money ended up.
Every donor →Dark money
$232M came from groups that never have to say who gave it to them.
$61M
from Future Forward USA Action alone, 89% on the winning side
$66M
what it told the IRS it raised in 2022, from donors it does not name
7
dark-money groups among the big donors this cycle
These are 501(c)(4) nonprofits. They file a tax return that shows how much they raise and spend, and leave every donor's name blank. That is the design.
What the IRS sees →Which industries
Wall Street and hedge funds spent the most: $558M.
- Wall Street and hedge funds$558M53% won
- Tobacco, alcohol and gambling$261M38% won
- Telecom and media$201M67% won
- Agriculture, food and retail$152M34% won
- Labor unions$138M60% won
- Tech and AI$125M74% won
- Pharma and health care$86M54% won
Gifts to super PACs from people and companies in the industry, plus PAC checks straight to candidates. The percentage is how much of its super PAC money landed on the winning side.
Industry by industry →Money → vote
Take the industry's money, vote the industry's way: 63% of the time. Everyone else: 41%.
63%
members who took the industry's money voted its way
vs
41%
members who took little or none did
- Methane waste emissions charge repeal · Oil, gas and coal+74 pts77% vs 3%
- ANWR coastal plain leasing · Oil, gas and coal+72 pts75% vs 3%
- California clean cars waiver repeal · Oil, gas and coal+72 pts78% vs 6%
- One Big Beautiful Bill Act · Oil, gas and coal+70 pts73% vs 3%
Across 46 key votes since 2021. "Funded" means $10K or more from that industry across every run since 2020. The gaps below are the widest.
Every vote →Their own portfolios
House members made 27,375 stock trades, worth at least $943M, while regulating the companies they traded.
- Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05)$117M+2500 trades
- Darrell Issa (CA-48)$106M+22 trades
- Jefferson Shreve (IN-06)$86M+636 trades
- Suzan DelBene (WA-01)$79M+368 trades
- Nancy Pelosi (CA-12)$74M+125 trades
41%
of members who trade $10K+ voted against banning it
vs
48%
of members who barely trade voted against it
The House voted 232–198 in July 2026 to ban members from trading stocks.
Reported under the STOCK Act since 2021, including spouses and dependent children. Members report ranges, so the figures are the bottom of the range.
Every trade →Your screen
$639M of Google and YouTube ads, half of it in the last eight weeks.
$20M
in the final eight weeks, 3% of the cycle
BIDEN FOR PRESIDE…
biggest single advertiser, $83M
3,598 political advertisers in Google's own disclosure. The peak week, 2020-10-25, cost $59M. Meta publishes no comparable file.
Who bought the ads →After the election
2,397 of the lobbyists in these filings used to work inside the government they now lobby.
$3.49B
spent on federal lobbying by the biggest players in the industries on this site, 2021–2026
- Pharma and health care$523M
- Tech and AI$505M
- Real estate and construction$473M
- Telecom and media$452M
- Defense contractors$341M
49 former members of Congress, 2,092 former congressional staff, 256 from the executive branch. Lobbyists must list the government jobs they held in the previous 20 years.
The revolving door →