Statistical Summary of 18-Month Campaign Activity of the 2021-2022 Election Cycle

Congressional candidates collected $2.4 billion and disbursed $1.8 billion, political parties received $ 1.4 billion and spent $ 1.1 billion, and political action committees (PACs) raised $5.5 billion and spent $4.6 billion, according to campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission that cover activity from January 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022. Disbursements for independent expenditures reported in this period totaled $419.4 million. Communication costs reported to the Commission totaled $1.3 million and electioneering communications filings totaled $790,355 during this period.

This summary of campaign finance activity in the 2021-2022 election cycle provides a benchmark for comparison with the same reporting period in other cycles. Supporting data tables are linked at the end of each summary section below.

United States House and Senate candidates running in the 2022 election cycle reported raising a total of $2.4 billion and spending $1.8 billion between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022. Candidates for the two chambers reported combined total debts of $267.5 million and combined total cash-on-hand of $1.2 billion as of June 30, 2022.

The following table summarizes campaign finance activity of House and Senate candidates through June 30 of election years since the 2011-2012 election cycle.

The 331 candidates running for Senate in 2021 and 2022 reported total receipts of $943.1 million, disbursements of $710.6 million, debts of $129.2 million and cash-on-hand of $382.9 million.

The 2,254 candidates running for the House of Representatives reported combined total receipts of $1.5 billion, disbursements of $1 billion, debts of $138.2 million and cash-on-hand of $802.2 million in the 18-month period. In addition to the 2022 primary and general elections, these numbers encompass financial activity associated with the 2021 special elections for Florida’s 20th, Louisiana’s 2nd and 5th, New Mexico’s 1st, Ohio’s 11th and 15th, and Texas’s 6th Congressional Districts and the Special Runoff election for Georgia’s Senate seat, and with the 2022 special elections for Alaska’s At-Large, California’s 22nd, Florida’s 20th, Minnesota’s 1st, Nebraska’s 1st, New York’s 19th and 23rd, and Texas’s 34th Congressional Districts, as well as the Special Elections for California’s and Oklahoma’s Senate seats.

Data summary tables for reports submitted to the Commission through June 30, 2022 by 2021 and 2022 congressional candidate committees can be found here.

National, state and local political party committees reported combined total receipts of $1.4 billion in federal funds, disbursements of $1.1 billion, debts of $3.2 million, and cash-on-hand of $485.5 million as of June 30, 2022. Of those totals, party committees other than the two major political parties reported receipts of $5.3 million, disbursements of $4.8 million, debts of nearly $57,421 and a combined cash-on-hand of $1.5 million as of June 30, 2022. (See the footnote in the following table for a list of these other party committees.)

The following table summarizes 2021-2022 campaign finance activity of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), Republican National Committee (RNC), National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), as well as each party’s state and local committees and other party committees.

Individuals, for whom contributions to national parties were limited to $36,500 per year during the 2021-22 election cycle, were the largest source of federal funds for party committees’ traditional accounts. Democratic and Republican party committees reported receiving $485 million and $478.4 million, respectively, from individuals. PACs and other political committees contributed $53.5 million to Democratic party committees and $56.9 million to Republican party committees as of June 30, 2022.

Democratic and Republican House candidate committees transferred $29.6 million and $30.8 million, respectively, from their campaign accounts to their national congressional party committees. Democratic Senate candidate committees transferred $360,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Their Republican counterparts transferred $170,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Provisions of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (H.R. 83), signed into law in December 2014, enable national party committees to establish accounts to defray certain expenses incurred with respect to presidential nominating conventions, national party headquarters buildings, and election recounts and contests and other legal proceedings (collectively, “segregated party accounts”).

The segregated party accounts of national party committees reported receiving $226.7 million between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022. Of that total, the Democratic national party committee segregated party accounts received $140.5 million, while the corresponding Republican national party committee accounts received $86.1 million.

Recount accounts reported the highest receipt total across all the segregated party accounts: $121.8 million. New headquarters and convention accounts raised $89 million and $15.9 million, respectively, through June 30, 2022.

Data summary tables for reports submitted by political party committees to the Commission through June 30, 2022 can be found here.

Based on reports filed with the Commission from January 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022, 8,742 federal PACs reported total receipts of $5.5 billion, disbursements of $4.6 billion, debts of $24.1 million, and combined cash-on-hand of $2.0 billion.

The following table summarizes campaign finance activity of PACs based on PAC type in 2022. This table includes both separate segregated funds (SSFs), which have connected organizations such as corporations or labor organizations that establish, administer or raise money on their behalf, and nonconnected committees.

Contributions by PACs to congressional candidates seeking office in the 2021-2022 election cycle totaled $289.3 million as of June 30, 2022. PAC contributions to Senate and House candidates totaled $50.0 million and $239.3 million, respectively. There were no reported contributions by PACs to 2024 presidential candidates as of June 30, 2022. Independent Expenditure-Only Political Committees are prohibited from making contributions to candidates.

Data summary tables for reports submitted by PACs to the Commission through June 30, 2022 can be found here.

Independent expenditures reported to the Commission through June 30, 2022 in connection with presidential and congressional elections in the 2021-2022 election cycle totaled $419.4 million.* Independent Expenditure-Only Political Committees accounted for $296.3 million of all independent expenditures disclosed to the Commission, Committees with Non-Contribution Accounts reported $87.5 million, and other PACs reported $11 million. Independent expenditures made by persons other than political committees totaled $5.6 million, and party committees reported independent expenditures totaling $19 million.

Data summary tables for independent expenditure filings submitted to the Commission through June 30, 2022 can be found here.

*A political committee must itemize its payments for independent expenditures once the calendar-year total paid to a vendor or other person exceeds $200 with respect to a particular election. Any other person (e.g. individual, partnership, or group of individuals) must file a report with the Commission at the end of the first reporting period in which independent expenditures with respect to a given election aggregate more than $250 in a calendar year and in any succeeding period during the same year in which additional independent expenditures of any amount are made.

Electioneering communication filings totaling $790,355 were reported to the Commission in connection with activity between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022. An electioneering communication is a broadcast, cable or satellite communication that refers to a clearly identified federal candidate and is distributed within 30 days prior to a primary election or within 60 days prior to a general election. These communications do not expressly advocate the election or defeat of a federal candidate.

A provision of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act), allows corporations and labor organizations to communicate to a “restricted class” of individuals on any subject, including express advocacy of the election or defeat of any Federal candidate. The costs of such communications must be reported to the Commission when the cost exceeds $2,000 per election, but are not considered independent expenditures. This provision of the Act pre-dates the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC, which struck down the ban on independent expenditures and electioneering communications financed by the general treasuries of corporations and labor unions.

The Commission received 15 such filings during the reporting period, disclosing spending of $1.3 million in costs for communications to organizations’ restricted classes between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022.

The data summary table for communication cost filings submitted to the Commission through June 30, 2022 can be found here.