More than $9.3 billion will be spent on the midterm elections, according to OpenSecrets, far surpassing the $7.1 billion price tag of the last midterm cycle.
Political parties, candidates, political action committees, and outside spenders have already poured $4.8 billion into the races, with the campaign finance watchdog projecting another $4.5 billion will be spent in the last six weeks leading up to Election Day.
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“We’re seeing much more money, more candidates and more political division,” said Sheila Krumholz, OpenSecrets’s executive director. “Spending is surging across the board this midterm cycle, fueling a polarization vortex that shows no signs of slowing.”
Senate candidates are spending double what they did in 2018, while House spending has risen by 30%. Republican committees are outspending Democrats, accounting for 55.83% of total spending, while Democrats have spent 42.46%.
However, Democrats are heading into the crucial final stretch of the campaign season with more cash on hand: $1.3 billion combined, compared to $1.1 billion for Republican candidates. The divide is especially stark in House races, where Democrats have nearly double the cash on hand as Republicans.
“One big element here is that Senate Republican primaries were incredibly expensive,” said Sarah Bryner, research director at OpenSecrets. “There’s just been a ton of money at the beginning of the election, prior to even getting to the general.”
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Perhaps unsurprisingly, battleground Senate races come with the biggest price tag. The showdown in Pennsylvania between Dr. Mehmet Oz (R-PA) and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D-PA) tops the list with $153.8 million spent so far, followed by Ohio with $121.5 million in spending to date.
Republicans are favored to net at least five seats and take control of the House in November, while their chances of flipping the Senate are considered lower.
