2022 Election Cycle Sets Midterm Spending Record of $16.7 Billion

The 2022 election cycle set a midterm spending record of $16.7 billion, according to OpenSecrets.

The total represents money spent on both federal and state races.

“No other midterm election has seen as much money at the state and federal levels as the 2022 elections,” Sheila Krumholz, OpenSecrets’ executive director, told CNBC. “We’re seeing record-breaking totals spent on elections up and down the ballot.”

Democrats raised over $1.1 billion from grassroots donors in 2022, double the amount of Republicans’ grassroots efforts, according to the WinRed and ActBlue fundraising platforms, the Financial Times reported.

Republican PACs and committees out-raised Democrat committees and PACs by about 50 percent for a total of $1.1 billion.

The Republican donors who greatly contributed to the effort were historically active GOP backers. Half of the GOP committee and PAC money came from about 10 donors, “including $77mn from Richard Uihlein, $67mn from Ken Griffin, $44mn from Jeff Yass and $40mn from Timothy Mellon. Steve Schwarzman, Peter Thiel and Larry Ellison have each given $31mn-$34mn to these groups,” the Times reported.

Much of the money was spent on Senate races.

The top five most expensive Senate races:

1.) Pennsylvania: $312,131,203

2.) Georgia: $254,668,614

3.) Arizona: $202,332,538

4.) Nevada: $186,750,730

5.) Wisconsin: $185,811,066

The top five House races:

1.) Virginia District 7: $38,689,369

2.) Michigan District 07: $37,427,939

3.) California District 47: $37,120,613

4.) Texas District 28: $35,630,944

5.) Nevada District 3: $33,088,248

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.