The 2024 US election has officially become the most expensive in history, with total spending reaching nearly $15.9 billion. This record-breaking expenditure surpasses the $15.1 billion spent in 2020 and is more than double the amount spent in 2016, which stood at $6.5 billion. These figures include spending across the presidential race, congressional contests, and local elections.
Campaign Funding Breakdown
In the presidential race, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris led in fundraising, with her campaign raising over $1 billion. Of this amount, 40 percent came from small donations, with an additional $586 million provided by supporting political action committees (PACs). Meanwhile, Republican candidate Donald Trump’s campaign generated $382 million in direct contributions, 28 percent of which came from small donors, along with $694 million from affiliated committees.
Several major donors contributed significant sums to the campaigns. Timothy Mellon, a banking heir, emerged as the largest individual donor, contributing $197 million to support Trump and other Republican causes. Other notable Republican supporters included Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, Miriam Adelson, Elon Musk, and Kenneth Griffin, each giving over $100 million. On the Democratic side, Michael Bloomberg provided approximately $93 million, while George Soros contributed $56 million.
Advertising and Media Spending
The costliest area of spending was on campaign ads, which totaled $10.5 billion across all races. The Harris and Trump campaigns alone spent $2.6 billion on ads between March and early November. Democrats invested approximately $1.6 billion in ads, while Republicans spent $993 million. Key themes in Harris’s ads were taxation, abortion rights, the economy, and healthcare, while Trump’s ads focused on issues like immigration, inflation, crime, and taxation.
Pennsylvania emerged as the most expensive swing state, with $264 million spent on presidential campaign ads, followed by Michigan and Georgia. At the state level, Pennsylvania saw a total of $1.2 billion spent across all races, including down-ballot local contests.
Digital Advertising
Despite the popularity of digital platforms, only 17 percent of the total advertising budget was allocated to online ads, amounting to $419 million. Democrats outspent Republicans significantly on Facebook and Instagram, with a total of $132.4 million compared to Republicans’ $24.7 million. On X (formerly Twitter), Republicans led the spending, investing $1.1 million versus Democrats’ $150,000.
Overall Election Fundraising
Collectively, Harris and Trump’s campaigns, along with their respective party committees and outside groups, raised almost $4.2 billion. Harris and her supporting groups raised approximately $2.3 billion, spending $1.9 billion, while Trump and his affiliated groups raised just over $1.8 billion, spending $1.6 billion. This record-breaking financial activity underscores the high-stakes nature of the 2024 election and reflects the increasing role of large donors and Super PACs in shaping campaign finances.
