Staggering $16 BILLION to be spent on 2024 presidential election - but is it the most expensive in history?
The $1 billion fundraising mark that Vice President Kamala Harris just crossed is a mere fraction of total 2024 campaign spending – which is on track to be the highest ever in an election year.
The $1 billion fundraising mark that Vice President Kamala Harris just crossed is a mere fraction of total 2024 campaign spending – which is on track to be the highest ever in an election year.
When the tons of cash from deep-pocketed Super PACs and other outside groups pouring funds into the race get counted, the total is on pace to hit an astounding $15.9 billion.
That would make it the priciest federal election cycle ever, according to data compiled by the nonprofit watchdog group OpenSecrets.org.
Driving the totals is a crush of online fundraising by the candidates, along with a series of big-money hauls from top campaign donors.
Harris crossed the $1 billion threshold after only three months, in an illustration of how she has been able to fire up grassroots support after stepping in for a sinking President Joe Biden in July, when Democratic bigwigs including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi forced him to end his run.
Campaign data compiled for 2024 by nonprofit OpenSecrets reveals the election is on track to be the most expensive ever. The 2020 race may still hold the edge when spending is adjusted for inflation
Vice President Kamala Harris crossed the $1 billion threshold in campaign fundraising. But outside groups and megadonors are pushing total spending up to $15.9 billion
Outside spending is already blowing away records. Fueled by independent ad expenditures by outside groups, outside spending topped $2.6 billion as of October 7, according to OpenSecrets data.
Conservative-leaning groups hold the edge, led by the Make America Great Again PAC, which is separate from Trumps campaign. It has plowed $239 million into the race.
The pro-Harris Future Forward PAC has spent $212 million.
Donald Trump and Republicans raised $430 million for the last reporting period. But the top five megadonors are all backing Republicans in their own spending
So-called dark money nonprofits who spend to influence elections do not have to disclose their donors under the 2010 Supreme Courts Citizens United decision.
Spending is also pouring into congressional races, with both the House and Senate seen as up for grabs – and potentially providing a check on either president should Congress go opposite the presidential race result.
A series of megadonors are also on a campaign spending spree, donating 7 percent of all money raised, or $599 million, according to OpenSecrets data.
The top five megadonors are all backing Republicans in 2024.
Trump recently appeared onstage with Elon Musk in Butler, Pennsylvania. The worlds richest man has said hes kicking in $45 million per month to a pro-Trump America PAC, which was formed in June.
Although campaigns prefer to highlight their small-dollar donors giving less than $200, small donations account for just 16 percent of all contributions for the cycle, according to OpenSecrets. That is a drop from 22 percent in 2020.
But although 2024 spending is set to shatter the dollar record, 2020 could still reign supreme, in part because the inflation that is proving to be a top campaign issue is also playing out in campaign spending.
The record-shattering 2020 fundraising totals were $15.1 billion. But when adjusted for inflation just four years later, that amounts to $18.3 billion in current dollars. The 2020 race featured battling billionaires Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer seeing part of their fortunes go up in smoke with a combined $1.4 billion in campaign spending in their losing bids.
The 2016 election that got Trump into office saw a comparatively paltry total of $8.5 billion in campaign spending, adjusted for inflation in 2024 dollars.
For the last reporting period, Harris and Democrats were expected to have raised $1 billion, while Trump and Republicans raised $430 million. Harris and the Democrats had $404 million in the bank, with Trump and the Republicans having $283 million.
Public disclosures reveal where the campaigns are spending their hauls. The Harris campaign is cutting most of the big checks on media buys, Federal Elections Commission data reveal. Most of it is funding brutal TV air wars in the battleground states. The Trump camp is pouring funds into its own media purchases, plus direct mail to contact voters at home.
