We've never seen this much money flow into U.S. elections. And in recent years, big donors like Ken Griffin, George Soros, and Reid Hoffman have contributed to swing election outcomes. So how much is being raised?
Where does that money go? And can that make or break an election? I'm John Dorman, and I'm a senior politics reporter at Business Insider.
Seeing billions upon billions upon billions of dollars raised is a relatively recent phenomenon in American politics. The first time that both presidential campaigns raised over a billion dollars was in 2012. in the race between President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney. It was an historic achievement. Those numbers have only gone up. In the 2020 cycle, there was $14.4 billion that was raised between congressional races and the presidential race, which is a huge amount of money.
Here are the consequences of so much money flowing into elections. Usually, candidates who spend more money win their races. In 2022, nearly 94% of House candidates who raised the most money won their races.
And for the Senate races, That year, roughly 82% of Senate candidates who raised the most money won their races. But for presidential campaigns, things are a bit different. For example, in 2016, Hillary Clinton raised more money than Donald Trump, but she lost the election.
So there's not always a clear correlation between how much is raised and who actually wins the election. The campaign money goes towards everything. Including hosting rallies, to opening offices and hiring staff in swing states, and to consulting fees. But the biggest thing would be advertising, whether it's direct mail, whether it's television, radio advertisements.
Are we ready to get to work? And also social media ads. Candidates are trying to figure out a way to reach voters, and they will use whatever methods that they can in order to do that. Fundraising is a critical part of any presidential campaign.
The most prominent example of this is after Biden's disastrous debate in June, which left many Democrats fretting and nervous. You raise a deficit larger than any president has in any one term. You had the actor George Clooney, who asked Biden to step aside.
You had major Democratic donors, such as Abigail Disney. who said that she wouldn't donate money to the campaign any longer if Biden was a nominee. For them not to contribute money meant that the campaign was going to struggle.
Once people saw that basically the faucet was turning off, that really influenced the campaign and it likely contributed to Biden exiting the race. An immense amount of money has already been raised for the 2024 presidential race. And right now, Democrats have the momentum in terms of how much has been raised. Vice President Kamala Harris raised $310 million. In July alone, part of that money was inherited from the Biden campaign.
It rolled over to her campaign. We thank Joe Biden each and every... So now she has $377 million cash on hand. Former President Donald Trump has $327 million cash on hand.
So the Democrats are about $15 million ahead. They have momentum at the moment. On the day that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz was announced as Kamala Harris'running mate. Listen. I want you to do this with me.
Let's do this together. Would you be my running mate? Act Blue took in about $20 million on that day alone. A really big sum, and it shows that Democrats are really motivated, whereas they didn't have that about a month ago. There are three ways that money can be donated, whether it's individual contributions, or through PACs, or through super PACs.
Individual contributions are subject to strict limits under federal law. Individuals can only contribute up to $6,600 for an election cycle. And then you have PACs, political action committees. They contribute money to campaigns, and they can be formed for businesses or organizations.
There's a $5,000 limit for individual candidate committee. And then you have super PACs, which can accept unlimited contributions from individuals and corporations. They can have a huge impact on American elections.
Wealthy donors are increasingly playing a huge role in shaping American politics. In the 2022 midterm election cycle, billionaires contributed about $880 million. But small-dollar donations are also an important part of elections, and we're seeing that play out in the presidential race. The influx of money to campaigns is often uneven, and big events can influence how people donate to campaigns.
For example, when Vice President Kamala Harris announced her candidacy for president after President Joe Biden stepped aside, she raised about $81 million within 24 hours from 880,000 people. That's a huge figure. And that's unprecedented. Trump's legal issues have also caused influx of money to his GOP presidential campaign. Mr. Trump, I haven't done anything to get you to the ballot.
In May 2024, Trump and his ally Super PAC raised $140 million, and much of that money came after he was convicted of 34 felony counts. This was a disgrace. There's money coming into these campaigns from all across the country, but a few players This could have a huge impact on the upcoming election.
For example, George Soros gave $60 million through a nonprofit that he founded to the Democracy PAC in April 2024. That money is going to go to aid House and Senate Democratic candidates. And this isn't the first time that George Soros has done is he's been a prolific donor for a long time. In the 2022 midterm cycle alone, Soros gave $170 million. Another major 2024 figure is Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Musk has been very supportive of former President Donald Trump.
And the Wall Street Journal recently reported that Musk would be donating $45 million a month to help Republican campaign efforts through the end of the election. But when contacted, Musk denied it and said that he wouldn't be doing that. Another example is Reed Hastings. The Netflix co-founder contributed $7 million to a super PAC affiliated with Kamala Harris in late July.
And then there are people that we've never heard of. For example, there's Timothy Mellon. He contributed $50 million to a pro-Trump Trump's super PAC the day after Trump was convicted in a Manhattan court.
It's one of the largest single contributions ever. And then you have Linda McMahon. She served in Trump's cabinet and she's already donated $10 million to a pro Trump super PAC in this cycle. But it's also the policies of elected officials that can be influenced depending on who donates money.
For example, politicians may have prioritized the interests of donors who've contributed to their campaigns. If you look at Trump, oil and gas interests are lining up behind his campaign because of his. strong support of the fossil fuel industry, and they're expecting to have his ear in the White House should he win again. Americans continue to want money out of politics.
72% of Americans indicated that they would like to see limits on how much individuals or organizations could contribute to political campaigns. But right now, money has become an increasingly larger part of how our political system functions.