WASHINGTON: The total spending of the 2020 US election cycle, including presidential and congressional, has reached nearly USD 14 billion, surpassing more than the combined figures of the amount spent during the last two election cycles, a study has found.
According to the estimate from the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) released on Saturday, the 2020 presidential election, slated to take place on Tuesday, is set to cost over $6.6 billion, while donations made to the race for congressional seats will top $7.2 billion, Xinhua news agency reported.
Democrats have spent the lion’s share of that total so far — $6.9 billion dollars, compared to $3.8 billion spent by Republican candidates and groups, the study showed.
“Donors poured record amounts of money into the 2018 midterms, and 2020 appears to be a continuation of that trend — but magnified,” said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the CRP.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is poised to become the first candidate in history to raise $1 billion from donors, after his campaign brought in a record-breaking $938 million dollars through October 14.
Incumbent President Donald Trump raised $596 million, according to the estimate.
“Ten years ago, a billion-dollar presidential candidate would have been difficult to imagine. This cycle, we’re likely to see two,” Krumholz said.
OpenSecrets, part of the CRP, said in a statement that the influx of political donations in the final weeks leading up to the November 3 election day was driven by the partisan fight over the now successful Senate confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court and “closely watched races for the White House and Senate”.
While former President Barack Obama, when doing a phone banking for Biden, urged a mother of an eight-month-old to turn out and vote in what will be “a really close election”.
Trump reportedly told Republican donors that it will be “tough” for his party members to continue holding the majority in the Senate after the congressional election.
With Trump and Biden vying for the White House, all the 435 seats in the House and 35 of the 100 Senate seats are up for election this year.
(with inputs from Agencies)
Comment