Open Secrets - Outside spending in 2024 federal election tops $1 billion

By Jimmy Cloutier / OpenSecrets

Outside spending in the 2024 election cycle has surpassed $1 billion, outpacing prior election cycles, according to a new OpenSecrets analysis of federal campaign finance reports.  

Super PACs and other outside groups that can raise and spend unlimited sums of money have poured about $1.1 billion into 2024 federal elections as of Aug. 15 — nearly twice what similar groups spent over the same period in the 2020 presidential election cycle when independent expenditures hit an all-time record.

Chart 1: Outside spending, cycle-to-date

More than half of all outside spending during the 2024 cycle— about $585.8 million — has gone into the presidential election, which saw an especially expensive Republican presidential nominating contest. 

SFA Fund and Never Back Down, the main super PACs aligned with former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, respectively, sank a combined $119.6 million on independent expenditures during the Republican presidential primary. 

However, the largest spender, by far, is former President Donald Trump’s flagship super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc. To date, MAGA Inc. has spent about $125.1 million boosting Trump in the presidential election, including nearly $33.2 million attacking his GOP rivals and more than $65.6 million opposing President Joe Biden.   

Future Forward and American Bridge 21st Century, the first and second-largest Democratic hybrid PACs, have spent a combined $74.7 million on the presidential race as of Aug. 15. Both super PACs pivoted to supporting Vice President Kamala Harris after Biden suspended his campaign last month. 

Outside spending slowed after Haley, Trump’s last-remaining Republican challenger, bowed out of the presidential race in March. But independent expenditures continue to outpace previous election cycles. 

Congressional races have also attracted millions in outside spending.  

Chart 2: Largest spenders

Americans for Prosperity Action, a super PAC at the center of a network of conservative donors and activists led by billionaire Charles Koch, spent more than $31.2 million supporting Haley. After she suspended her campaign, AFP Action, which hasn’t endorsed Trump, pivoted to congressional races, spending nearly $27.7 million to help Republicans hold onto the U.S. House and win back the Senate. 

Another top spender is Fairshake, a super PAC established last year to prop up candidates it sees as friendly to the crypto industry. Fairshake and its affiliated super PACs, Protect Progress and Defend American Jobs, have spent a combined $45.7 million on elections in 2024 — more than any other industry-focused group. 

Of that, nearly $10.1 million went toward defeating Democratic Rep. Katie Porter in California’s open primary election for the U.S. Senate. Porter, who questioned the crypto industry’s impact on the environment, finished a distant third behind Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Republican Steve Garvey, a former professional baseball player. 

Fairshake and its affiliated super PACs are slated to spend millions more on the general election in coming months. Earlier this month, Fairshake announced that it had reserved $25 million in TV advertising to support 18 House candidates — nine Democrats and nine Republicans. Politico also reported that Defend American Jobs intends to spend at least $12 million supporting Republican Bernie Moreno in his race against Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), a longtime skeptic of the crypto industry. Democrats need to hold onto Brown’s seat to maintain their majority in the Senate. 

Meanwhile, Protect Progress is preparing to launch a pair of approximately $3 million ad campaigns supporting Reps. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) in their Senate races. Both lawmakers have voted for crypto industry-backed legislation in the House. 

The crypto-focused super PACs’ largest donors include the digital asset firms Coinbase and Ripple, as well as the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. 

United Democracy Project, a super PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, has also poured millions into influencing 2024 elections. United Democracy Project has spent more than $35.6 million on congressional races this cycle, mostly on efforts to oust Democratic incumbents over their criticism of Israel’s military response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. 

Last week, AIPAC-backed Wesley Bell, a county prosecutor, won the Democratic primary election in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, defeating incumbent Rep. Cori Bush in the state’s most expensive nominating contest on record. United Democracy Project spent more than $8.6 million on the race, far more than any other outside group.  

The AIPAC-affiliated super PAC also pushed out Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), who lost the Democratic primary election in New York's 16th Congressional District to George Latimer in June. United Democracy Project poured more than $14.6 million into the race.