The 2020 election is projected to smash last year’s election-spending record by more than twice as much, the largest increase in spending between elections ever.
The total spending for 2020 is expected to reach nearly $14 billion in both presidential and congressional campaign spending. In 2016’s race, total election spending came in at $6.5 billion. Presidential spending alone, at more than $6.6 billion, is nearly three times as much as was spent in 2016, when candidates spent a comparatively paltry $2.4 billion, according to OpenSecrets, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research group.
To put that into perspective, from the day the first Democratic contender announced his candidacy more than three years ago — former Maryland Rep. John Delaney on Aug. 10, 2017 — until Election Day, presidential campaigns alone are projected to spend on average $5.6 million every day.
Combined election spending has increased every election since 2008, but never on the magnitude seen this cycle. The previous record-breaking increase was in 2012, when candidate spending increased by less than 20% compared to 2008.
Campaign spending for presidential candidates was steadily declining from 2008, when candidates spent nearly $2.8 billion.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is also poised to be the first candidate to raise $1 billion during his campaign, far outstripping President Trump’s current $596 million haul.
The report identifies “deep-pocketed national groups” as a key driver for such dramatic spending increases. In October alone, super PACs and other outside groups spent nearly $1.2 billion — primarily in support of Biden.
“When Citizens United was decided 10 years ago, conservatives were the quickest to jump on the newly permissible outside groups as a way to facilitate huge donations,” said Sarah Bryner, research director at
But the number of small donors, people who give $200 or less, grew as well. In 2016, just more than 15% of all donations were small donors. In 2020, that share increased to more than 22%.
“Driven by their supporters’ strong opposition to Trump, Democrats are continuing their fundraising prowess that helped them dominate the money race in the 2018 election cycle,” OpenSecrets writes. “Their money machine is more powerful than ever in 2020.”
