2022 elections · final
The 2022 election cost $4.34B. Here's who was buying.
Every dollar reported to the FEC for the 2022 midterms: 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
$4.34B
471 races
PAC checks to candidates
$426M
From corporations, trade groups, unions and other politicians
Outside money
$1.26B
Super PACs and party groups, for or against
Bigger war chest won
89%
355 of 400 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?
AIPAC
United Democracy Project, AIPAC's super PAC
$26M spent · 74% of decided money on the winning side
Crypto industry
Fairshake, Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress
$49M spent · 96% of decided money on the winning side
Protect Our Future · American Dream Federal Action · Crypto Freedom PAC · Web3 Forward · Crypto Innovation
Republican machine
GOP party committees and leadership-aligned super PACs
$212M spent · 37% of decided money on the winning side · 2020: 33% on $490M
NRCC · Americans for Prosperity Action · NRSC · MAGA Inc. · Senate Leadership Fund · Restoration PAC · Congressional Leadership Fund
Democratic machine
Democratic party committees and leadership-aligned super PACs
$562M spent · 79% of decided money on the winning side · 2020: 50% on $882M
Senate Majority PAC · House Majority PAC · DCCC · Georgia Honor · DSCC · Honor Pennsylvania · Priorities USA Action · Future Forward (FF PAC) · Independence USA PAC
Follow the money
211 rich people put up $1.07B of the outside money
Wasted the most
Donors whose money bought the most losing candidates.
- One Nation
Dark money · gave $75M · 2020: 0% won on $22M
$70M - Richard Uihlein
Uline · gave $77M · 2020: 27% won on $65M
$50M - Ken Griffin
Citadel · gave $65M · 2020: 15% won on $63M
$33M - Stephen Schwarzman
Blackstone · gave $36M · 2020: 8% won on $44M
$24M - Timothy Mellon
Banking heir (Mellon family) · gave $40M · 2020: 20% won on $70M
$18M - Majority Forward
Dark money · gave $75M · 2020: 37% won on $61M
$17M - Miriam Adelson
Las Vegas Sands · gave $25M · 2020: 17% won on $108M
$13M - Stand Together Chamber of Commerce Inc.
Dark money · gave $27M
$13M
Bought the most winners
Donors whose money landed on the winning side.
- Majority Forward
Dark money · gave $75M · 2020: 37% won on $61M
$58M - American Action Network
Dark money · gave $51M · 2020: 71% won on $30M
$45M - Michael Bloomberg
Bloomberg LP · gave $40M · 2020: 79% won on $142M
$32M - Ken Griffin
Citadel · gave $65M · 2020: 15% won on $63M
$29M - Jeff Yass
Susquehanna International Group · gave $48M · 2020: 50% won on $30M
$26M - League of Conservation Voters, Inc.
Company / nonprofit · gave $30M · 2020: 50% won on $16M
$26M - Fred Eychaner
Newsweb Corporation · gave $32M · 2020: 27% won on $14M
$25M - Peter Thiel
Founders Fund / Palantir · gave $35M · 2020: 0% won on $2.2M
$25M
Who bought the winners
$224M in corporate and trade-group checks went straight to the candidates
PAC checks by type of giver
$380M of it went to candidates who have already won.
Most winners bought
| Giver | Checks | Winners | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| California Real Estate Political Action Committee MembershipLobbyist PAC | 440 | 423 | $3.7M |
| Credit Union National Association Trade groupLobbyist PAC | 395 | 380 | $2.7M |
| National Beer Wholesalers Association Trade groupLobbyist PAC | 386 | 376 | $3.0M |
| At&T Inc. CorporateLobbyist PAC | 366 | 356 | $2.3M |
| American Israel Public Affairs Committee Political Action Committee MembershipLobbyist PAC | 348 | 338 | $2.7M |
| Air Line Pilots Association UnionLobbyist PAC | 327 | 312 | $1.7M |
| National Automobile Dealers Association Trade groupLobbyist PAC | 317 | 300 | $2.5M |
| National Association of Home Builders Trade groupLobbyist PAC | 325 | 300 | $1.9M |
| American Bankers Association (Aba) Trade groupLobbyist PAC | 310 | 295 | $2.3M |
| Comcast Corporation CorporateLobbyist PAC | 299 | 288 | $1.9M |
| Valley Electric Association Inc., PAC Trade groupLobbyist PAC | 292 | 285 | $1.5M |
| American Optometric Association MembershipLobbyist PAC | 293 | 282 | $1.4M |
Bought and paid for
Winners who ran on PAC money
Did the money win?
The bigger war chest won 89% of contested races
Winner outraised the runner-up 10 to 1 or more
197 races
Between 2 and 10 times as much
109 races
Up to twice as much
49 races
Winner was outraised
45 races
The price of a seat
What each party paid per seat
Senate (36 seats up)
| Party | Seats won | Campaigns raised | PAC checks | Outside help | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republicans | 19 | $508M | $39M | $264M | $771M |
| Democrats | 15 | $878M | $35M | $482M | $1.36B |
Money behind each seat won: Republicans $20M (2020: $28M) · Democrats $67M (2020: $55M)
House (435 seats)
| Party | Seats won | Campaigns raised | PAC checks | Outside help | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republicans | 222 | $800M | $167M | $161M | $961M |
| Democrats | 211 | $857M | $182M | $331M | $1.19B |
Money behind each seat won: Republicans $3.1M (2020: $3.4M) · Democrats $4.3M (2020: $2.9M)
Money down the drain
Most expensive losses
- 1Herschel Junior Walker$183M
Georgia Senate
- 2Mehmet Oz$134M
Pennsylvania Senate
- 3Val Demings$84M
Florida Senate
- 4Mandela Barnes$76M
Wisconsin Senate
- 5Adam Paul Laxalt$72M
Nevada Senate
- 6Tim Ryan$64M
Ohio Senate
- 7Blake Masters$64M
Arizona Senate
- 8Cheri Beasley$56M
North Carolina Senate
- 9Tiffany Smiley$32M
Washington Senate
- 10Joe O'Dea$27M
Colorado Senate
Couldn't be bought
Outraised but won anyway
- 1JD Vance$16M vs
Ohio Senate · beat Tim Ryan
$58M - 2Marco Rubio$43M vs
Florida Senate · beat Val Demings
$81M - 3Ted Budd$15M vs
North Carolina Senate · beat Cheri Beasley
$39M - 4Eric Schmitt$6.6M vs
Missouri Senate · beat Trudy Busch Valentine
$18M - 5Ron Johnson$35M vs
Wisconsin Senate · beat Mandela Barnes
$42M - 6Jen A. Kiggans$3.5M vs
Virginia 2nd District · beat Elaine G. Luria
$11M - 7Patty Murray$16M vs
Washington Senate · beat Tiffany Smiley
$21M - 8Zach Nunn$2.6M vs
Iowa 3rd District · beat Cindy Axne
$7.2M - 9Michael V. Lawler$1.6M vs
New York 17th District · beat Sean Patrick Maloney
$6.1M - 10Thomas H. Kean$4.5M vs
New Jersey 7th District · beat Tom Malinowski
$9.0M
Bought it themselves
The biggest self-funders
- 1Mehmet Oz$27M✗ Lost
Pennsylvania Senate · 52% of their money
- 2Trudy Busch Valentine$16M✗ Lost
Missouri Senate · 89% of their money
- 3David J. Trone$13M✓ Won
Maryland 6th District · 95% of their money
- 4Shri Thanedar$9.2M✓ Won
Michigan 13th District · 99% of their money
- 5Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick$6.2M✓ Won
Florida 20th District · 92% of their money
- 6Daniel Goldman$4.9M✓ Won
New York 10th District · 68% of their money
- 7Joe O'Dea$4.7M✗ Lost
Colorado Senate · 46% of their money
- 8Brian Maryott$3.2M✗ Lost
California 49th District · 57% of their money
- 9Lisa Scheller$3.2M✗ Lost
Pennsylvania 7th District · 50% of their money
- 10Mike Erickson$2.8M✗ Lost
Oregon 6th District · 70% of their money
Where it all went