Chapter 1
Campaign money is one of the few parts of an election reported under…
Campaign money is one of the few parts of an election reported under legal obligation, on fixed dates, to a public agency. By the end of June 2026, congressional candidates had raised $2.8 billion for this election and held $1.3 billion, more than at the same point in either of the previous two cycles. Political action committees had raised $8.3 billion. Independent expenditures, the money outside groups spend for or against a candidate, had passed $640 million.
Chapter 2
The parties are unevenly funded
The parties are unevenly funded, and the imbalance runs in different directions at different levels. At the national committees, Republicans lead: the RNC, NRSC and NRCC together held $233.3 million at the end of August against $130.4 million for the DNC, DSCC and DCCC, and the Democratic National Committee owed more than it held. Among candidates the picture often reverses. As filed through June, Jon Ossoff held $42.6 million in Georgia to Mike Collins’s $2.1 million, James Talarico $21.5 million in Texas to Ken Paxton’s $1.8 million, and Roy Cooper $20.7 million in North Carolina to Michael Whatley’s $3.5 million. Republicans held more in Iowa, Michigan, Alaska and Nebraska.
Chapter 3
Outside groups make up the difference for Republicans
Outside groups make up the difference for Republicans. By mid-September, Republican candidates and their allies had reserved more advertising than Democrats in eight of the nine most competitive Senate races, according to NPR’s analysis of AdImpact’s tracking. A large share came from groups aligned with President Trump, who has said he has close to a billion dollars in his super PAC; its filings showed $415.8 million at the end of August.
Chapter 4
A reservation is not a payment
A reservation is not a payment. It can be moved or cancelled, which makes every total above a snapshot. The third-quarter reports, filed on 15 October, showed Democratic Senate candidates out-raising their opponents while Republican money ran through super PACs. A final pre-election report, covering the first two weeks of October, was due on 22 October.
And now
The last reports before the vote, covering 1 to 14 October, show the RNC, NRSC and NRCC holding $147.9 million against $73.0 million for the Democrats' three committees. Both sides are spending down, and three committees carry debts: the NRSC $20 million, the DNC and DSCC $15 million each. Federal committees spent more than $1 billion in those two weeks, The New York Times found.
Anything spent since 14 October shows up only in 24- and 48-hour reports, and those stopped for two days. The FEC took its filing system offline late on 26 October after an attempted breach and restored it on the evening of 28 October; it has not said who was behind it.
Advertising spent or reserved has reached $11.21 billion, AdImpact counts, past 2024's record. Kansas's Senate race, at $84.5 million, is the most expensive election in the state's history.
The final-week moves are mixed. Republicans cut reservations in four House districts, including California's 13th and Nebraska's 2nd. House Majority PAC pulled and then partly restored money in two Florida seats, and the DSCC entered Mississippi with $500,000. In 14 of 56 competitive races, the candidates' own reports changed which side holds more cash.
Where it stands today →