$11.9 billion. Enough to panic the counters and prove Donald Trump right, for whom the mid-term elections of November 3 were the “most important of our lives”, he estimated the day before the election. The 2026 midterm election campaign is expected to become the costliest in U.S. history in terms of advertising spending, according to independent political spending tracking agency Open Secrets. An increase of 30% compared to that of 2022, which cost 8.9 billion dollars. The 2024 presidential campaign, for its part, had an amount already considered the highest ever established in the United States, at $11.4 billion.
But why does the United States know such amounts?
Uncle Sam's country has a particular method of financing its elections, always pushing for the biggest investments. On the one hand, there are traditional means: Political Action Committees (PAC), party committees which collect donations used to finance activities intended to influence elections.
On the other hand, different individuals and organizations can donate money to external groups, the famous Super PAC (a private organization). These funds are then used to finance advertisements and other activities linked to elections, without any limit, as required by the ruling taken by the Supreme Court in 2010, considering that capital which allows the dissemination of political messages constitutes a form of freedom of expression protected by the first amendment of the Constitution. Their only condition: the expenses must not be coordinated with a candidate or a campaign and must be reflected indirectly.
Foreign spending explodes to the advantage of the Republicans
The uniqueness of this campaign lies in the incredible breakthrough of external resources, notably led by Super PACs. They are expected to reach around $3.9 billion, compared to $2 billion during the previous midterm elections in 2022, according to Open Secrets. With $2.03 billion invested in 2026, pro-Republican Super PACs are ahead of their Democratic rivals by $360 million. These sums are mainly supported by the Senate Leadership Fund and MAGA Inc., a Super PAC linked to President Donald Trump. The two organizations have fees of $489 million and $353 million, respectively. On the Democratic side, spending was led by two Super PACs linked to the Democratic leadership of the House of Representatives and the Senate, which injected $248 million and $192 million, respectively.
An American campaign without the presence of major figures from the political and economic elite would be a failed campaign. Among the largest donors, we find Elon Musk in financing the Super PAC Senate Leadership Fund and the one he founded in 2024, America PAC ($215 million). He becomes the largest contributor to a federal election since 2010. The founder of Tesla and SpaceX has invested $445 million to support Republican candidates, notably in Texas where many of his companies are based and where Republican Ken Paxton is in danger against James Talarico, according to the Associated Press. Historical donors also helped finance these elections, such as the billionaire couple Elizabeth and Richard Uihlein, who gave more than $135 million to the Republicans.
Additionally, four non-profit organizations are among the 15 largest contributors to this campaign. Exempt from the legal obligation to disclose the names of their financiers, they fall into the category of “dark money”, according to Open Secrets. According to the latest reports from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) filed on October 22, 1.47 billion dollars passed through these hidden structures, surpassing the previous record of 1.35 billion established in 2024.
Democratic candidates spend more than Republicans
External sums are not exclusively reserved for Republicans. Longtime Democratic benefactor George Soros contributed at least $102 million. Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York, spent $52.6 million for the Democrats. His team told the New York Times that he also paid a total of $80 million in September and October. Although total outside spending is lower among Democrats, their candidates spend significantly more than Republicans, with an $800 million surplus.
If the ceilings imposed on PACs govern direct contributions to candidates, fundraising remains essential, and amounts to billions of dollars. According to Open Secrets' projections, Democratic candidates will spend more than $2.2 billion compared to just $1.4 billion for Republicans. This gap is even more striking in states where a Senate seat is at stake. The Democratic camp is expected to spend close to a billion dollars in spending, compared to less than 500 million on the Republican side. This disparity is largely explained by the performance of two candidates: James Talarico in Texas and Jon Ossoff in Georgia, who raised $145 million and $115 million respectively, against Republicans Ken Paxton ($22 million) and Mike Collins ($6.5 million).
According to the latest filings by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) as of October 22, more than $9.5 billion had been spent on the campaign. Open Secrets predicted an increase in this figure until the date of the election, resembling a referendum on the policy pursued by Donald Trump since 2024.
