2024 elections · final
The 2024 election cost $7.98B. Here's who was buying.
Every dollar reported to the FEC for the 2024 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
$7.98B
470 races
PAC checks to candidates
$458M
From corporations, trade groups, unions and other politicians
Outside money
$3.30B
Super PACs and party groups, for or against
Bigger war chest won
91%
364 of 398 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?
Elon Musk
America PAC and RBG PAC, both funded by Musk
$192M spent · 95% of decided money on the winning side
AIPAC
United Democracy Project, AIPAC's super PAC
$38M spent · 86% of decided money on the winning side · 2022: 74% on $26M
Crypto industry
Fairshake, Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress
$133M spent · 93% of decided money on the winning side · 2022: 96% on $49M
Republican machine
GOP party committees and leadership-aligned super PACs
$1.10B spent · 78% of decided money on the winning side · 2022: 37% on $212M
MAGA Inc. · Congressional Leadership Fund · Americans for Prosperity Action · Preserve America PAC · SFA Fund · NRCC · Restoration PAC · Never Back Down · NRSC · Senate Leadership Fund
Democratic machine
Democratic party committees and leadership-aligned super PACs
$1.13B spent · 27% of decided money on the winning side · 2022: 79% on $562M
Future Forward (FF PAC) · WinSenate · House Majority PAC · DCCC · DSCC · Priorities USA Action
Follow the money
200 rich people put up $1.93B of the outside money
Wasted the most
Donors whose money bought the most losing candidates.
- Future Forward USA Action
Dark money · gave $266M · 2022: 79% won on $16M
$266M - Dustin Moskovitz
Asana / Facebook co-founder · gave $50M · 2022: 79% won on $3.3M
$50M - Majority Forward
Dark money · gave $45M · 2022: 77% won on $75M
$45M - Ken Griffin
Citadel · gave $88M · 2022: 47% won on $65M
$36M - AB Foundation
Company / nonprofit · gave $34M · 2022: 100% won on $2.4M
$34M - League of Conservation Voters, Inc.
Company / nonprofit · gave $49M · 2022: 90% won on $30M
$28M - Michael Bloomberg
Bloomberg LP · gave $39M · 2022: 82% won on $40M
$27M - Richard Uihlein
Uline · gave $114M · 2022: 31% won on $77M
$25M
Bought the most winners
Donors whose money landed on the winning side.
- Elon Musk
Tesla / SpaceX / xAI · gave $211M
$187M - Timothy Mellon
Banking heir (Mellon family) · gave $196M · 2022: 53% won on $40M
$156M - Miriam Adelson
Las Vegas Sands · gave $138M · 2022: 48% won on $25M
$128M - Richard Uihlein
Uline · gave $114M · 2022: 31% won on $77M
$86M - Coinbase
Company · gave $76M
$58M - Securing American Greatness
Dark money · gave $68M
$50M - Jeff Yass
Susquehanna International Group · gave $77M · 2022: 68% won on $48M
$48M - Ken Griffin
Citadel · gave $88M · 2022: 47% won on $65M
$48M
Who bought the winners
$244M in corporate and trade-group checks went straight to the candidates
PAC checks by type of giver
$401M of it went to candidates who have already won.
Most winners bought
| Giver | Checks | Winners | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Association of Realtors MembershipLobbyist PAC | 440 | 424 | $4.0M |
| National Beer Wholesalers Association Trade groupLobbyist PAC | 394 | 380 | $2.7M |
| Credit Union National Association, Inc. Trade groupLobbyist PAC | 389 | 377 | $2.5M |
| American Bankers Association (Aba) Trade groupLobbyist PAC | 354 | 342 | $2.3M |
| National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (Nreca) Trade groupLobbyist PAC | 346 | 333 | $2.0M |
| At&T Inc. CorporateLobbyist PAC | 341 | 326 | $1.9M |
| American Israel Public Affairs Committee Political Action Committee MembershipLobbyist PAC | 335 | 323 | $3.2M |
| National Automobile Dealers Association Trade groupLobbyist PAC | 330 | 316 | $2.6M |
| American Hospital Association Trade groupLobbyist PAC | 330 | 316 | $1.8M |
| Verizon Communications, Inc. Political Action Committee (Verizon PAC) CorporateLobbyist PAC | 322 | 309 | $1.3M |
| National Association of Home Builders Trade groupLobbyist PAC | 323 | 307 | $2.1M |
| Air Line Pilots Association UnionLobbyist PAC | 323 | 306 | $1.9M |
Bought and paid for
Winners who ran on PAC money
Wisconsin 4th District · incumbent
$954K of $1.4M raised
- Charter Communications Inc.$20K
- US Venture Inc.$18K
- The Carlyle Group Inc.$15K
Did the money win?
The bigger war chest won 91% of contested races
Winner outraised the runner-up 10 to 1 or more
201 races
Between 2 and 10 times as much
128 races
Up to twice as much
35 races
Winner was outraised
34 races
The price of a seat
What each party paid per seat
White House
| Party | Result | Campaigns raised | PAC checks | Outside help | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republicans | Won | $496M | $341K | $773M | $1.27B |
| Democrats | Lost | $1.18B | $152K | $875M | $2.05B |
Senate (34 seats up)
| Party | Seats won | Campaigns raised | PAC checks | Outside help | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republicans | 15 | $440M | $27M | $306M | $746M |
| Democrats | 17 | $798M | $32M | $538M | $1.34B |
Money behind each seat won: Republicans $30M (2022: $20M) · Democrats $38M (2022: $67M)
House (435 seats)
| Party | Seats won | Campaigns raised | PAC checks | Outside help | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republicans | 220 | $797M | $207M | $371M | $1.17B |
| Democrats | 215 | $918M | $189M | $420M | $1.34B |
Money behind each seat won: Republicans $3.8M (2022: $3.1M) · Democrats $4.2M (2022: $4.3M)
Money down the drain
Most expensive losses
- 1Kamala Harris$2.48B
President
- 2Colin Allred$139M
Texas Senate
- 3Sherrod Brown$135M
Ohio Senate
- 4Jon Tester$127M
Montana Senate
- 5Robert P. Casey Jr.$88M
Pennsylvania Senate
- 6Eric Hovde$80M
Wisconsin Senate
- 7Sam Brown$77M
Nevada Senate
- 8Mike Rogers$70M
Michigan Senate
- 9Kari Lake$57M
Arizona Senate
- 10Debbie Mucarsel-Powell$38M
Florida Senate
Couldn't be bought
Outraised but won anyway
- 1Bernard F. Moreno$27M vs
Ohio Senate · beat Sherrod Brown
$97M - 2Tim Sheehy$30M vs
Montana Senate · beat Jon Tester
$94M - 3Dave McCormick$36M vs
Pennsylvania Senate · beat Robert P. Casey Jr.
$58M - 4Ted Cruz$74M vs
Texas Senate · beat Colin Allred
$95M - 5Jeff Hurd$2.8M vs
Colorado 3rd District · beat Adam Frisch
$17M - 6Nick Begich$2.8M vs
Alaska at-large House seat · beat Mary S. Peltola
$13M - 7Deb Fischer$6.6M vs
Nebraska Senate · beat Dan Osborn
$15M - 8Mark E. Amodei$1.3M vs
Nevada 2nd District · beat Greg Kidd
$9.2M - 9Ryan E. Mackenzie$1.8M vs
Pennsylvania 7th District · beat Susan Wild
$9.0M - 10Gabe Evans$2.7M vs
Colorado 8th District · beat Yadira Caraveo
$8.1M
Bought it themselves
The biggest self-funders
- 1Rick Scott$21M✓ Won
Florida Senate · 58% of their money
- 2Eric Hovde$20M✗ Lost
Wisconsin Senate · 63% of their money
- 3Greg Kidd$9.2M✗ Lost
Nevada 2nd District · 100% of their money
- 4Dave McCormick$7.7M✓ Won
Pennsylvania Senate · 21% of their money
- 5Jefferson Shreve$5.9M✓ Won
Indiana 6th District · 95% of their money
- 6Shri Thanedar$5.3M✓ Won
Michigan 13th District · 55% of their money
- 7Bernard F. Moreno$4.5M✓ Won
Ohio Senate · 17% of their money
- 8Paul Junge$4.1M✗ Lost
Michigan 8th District · 69% of their money
- 9April McClain Delaney$3.9M✓ Won
Maryland 6th District · 65% of their money
- 10Matt Gunderson$3.3M✗ Lost
California 49th District · 67% of their money
Where it all went