The campaign finance research organization OpenSecrets is projecting a gargantuan final price tag for the 2026 elections: $11.9 billion, a record for any midterm, according to a new analysis released Friday evening.
Adjusted for inflation, that’s $1.7 billion more than the 2022 elections, OpenSecrets found, crediting a rise in outside spending by super PACs.
“When all the reporting is in, we will have another record midterm election,” OpenSecrets’ staff wrote in their report.
More than $445 million came from one man: Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a key ally of President Donald Trump.
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Other nine-figure political donors this election cycle include Michael Bloomberg, Richard Uihlein and Jeffrey Yass.
OpenSecrets said about $1.5 billion worth of spending during the 2026 midterms has already come from “dark money” — money that can’t be traced to a root source.
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