The 2022 federal election cost more than $8.9 billion, blowing past the inflation-adjusted $7.1 billion spent on the 2018 midterm elections, a new OpenSecrets analysis of year-end disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission found.
For all the billions of dollars spent, Democrats picked up one U.S. Senate seat, clinging to the party’s narrow majority in the chamber — until Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema announced she would switch from Democrat to independent in December, effectively shrinking the Democrat’s legislative breathing room. Republicans narrowly regained a 5-member majority in the U.S. House, which has already posed a political headache for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
“The ever-escalating spending race between political parties means the price of admission to Congress keeps climbing,” said OpenSecrets Executive Director Sheila Krumholz. “But all of that money had hardly left American voters more or better informed.
“This midterm spending spree was preceded by years of lax campaign finance regulations and oversight following the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United, and I anticipate more federal election spending records will be smashed in 2024,” Krumholz said.
For comparison: Report: Auto insurers spent $10B on advertising in 2021.
