US Midterms Set for Record Campaign Spending
Americans vote on Tuesday in midterm elections projected to be the most expensive on record, with spending on federal races forecast at nearly $12 billion, driven by unlimited contributions to outside groups and by Elon Musk, the largest individual donor.
Midterm elections take place halfway through a president’s four-year term and decide control of Congress. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and about a third of the Senate are at stake. Control of both chambers is riding on the outcome, and spending on congressional races has already surpassed any previous election.
OpenSecrets, an independent group that tracks campaign finance, forecasts the total at a record $11.9 billion. That would be about 30% more than in the last midterms in 2022. According to Federal Election Commission filings that run to mid-October, more than $9.5 billion had been spent by then. Political action committees (PACs) and Super PACs account for about $5.5 billion of it, with their spending almost doubling in the past couple of months. Super PACs can accept unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations and unions, and cannot give money directly to candidates but can spend it to support them indirectly.
The BBC says the top 40 donors had given $2.4 billion by 14 October, a record for that point in a midterm cycle, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. “Spending in the 2026 midterms is shattering records,” said campaign finance expert Michael Beckel.
Musk, who worked for the Trump administration last year, leads all donors. He has given $445 million this cycle, including $215 million to America PAC, which he set up in 2024, and $168 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, through mid-October. Much of it has gone to the Texas Senate race, where Republican Ken Paxton faces Democrat James Talarico.
More than half a billion dollars has been spent on that race, and Musk has put more than $150 million into PACs supporting Paxton, while Talarico has raised $145 million from individual donors to Paxton’s $22 million. The BBC puts America PAC’s own Texas investment at more than $45 million, with about $10 million in each of the Michigan and Ohio races.
Other large donors include Geosor Corp and the Fund for Policy Reform, both founded by George Soros, which gave a combined $102 million to liberal groups, and Michael Bloomberg, the biggest Democratic donor, at more than $60 million. Jeff Yass and Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein have given more than $100 million each to Republican causes. Crypto companies Ripple and Coinbase gave a combined $63 million to Super PACs that promote the industry’s interests. OpenSecrets projects Democratic congressional candidates will spend about $2.2 billion against $1.4 billion for Republicans.
Most of the money goes on advertising. Ad-tracking firm AdImpact says $11.15 billion had been spent on advertising by the end of October, with television still the biggest recipient and digital growing. The heaviest ad spending is in the Senate races in Ohio, Texas, Michigan, Iowa and Maine.
