Groups that are not on any ballot itemized $957.5 million in spending for or against 2026 House and Senate candidates in their regular reports, according to the Federal Election Commission's bulk files as read on November 4. Nearly half of it, $442.6 million, paid for messages opposing a candidate rather than supporting one.
That is far from the whole amount. Near an election, outside spending is first disclosed in 24- and 48-hour notices, which the FEC publishes in a separate file. For the same 2026 House and Senate candidates, that file reports about $3.74 billion, after removing filings that were later amended. The two records overlap in part, and many notice amounts are labeled estimates, so they cannot simply be added. The regular-report figures below are what can be broken down by seat and funder today.
The money was concentrated. Twelve seats drew $401.2 million, or 42% of everything itemized. The FEC files list outside spending in 388 seats in all.
These are independent expenditures: advertising and outreach paid for by super PACs, party committees and other groups. By law, they are made without coordinating with the candidate, and they are not the candidate's money.
Where it landed
The five seats with the most outside spending in the files:
- Michigan, U.S. Senate: $79.7 million
- Texas, U.S. Senate: $64.3 million
- New York, House District 12: $43.1 million
- Kentucky, U.S. Senate: $38.8 million
- Kentucky, House District 4: $26.1 million
Filers designated $214.5 million of the total for the general election. Most of the rest was spent in primaries, where groups chose between candidates of the same party. In New York's 12th District and Kentucky's 4th, both of the candidates drawing the most outside money were from the same party.
Who paid
Ten groups account for $352.0 million, 37% of the total. The largest was CLF, which reported $64.2 million opposing candidates, nearly all of it against Democrats in general-election races, and $178,000 supporting candidates. Its own receipts show a single $64.3 million contribution from American Action Network. That network is filed as an organization, not a registered political committee, so the FEC record does not show who funded it.
United Democracy Project reported $53.5 million, all of it in primaries, including Michigan's Democratic Senate primary and Kentucky's Republican 4th District primary; its largest listed funder is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, at $30 million. HMP reported $44.6 million, nearly all of it opposing Republicans in general-election races; its largest listed funder is House Majority Forward, a filer that is not a registered political committee, at $93.7 million of HMP's $239.0 million in itemized receipts.
Hugin's group pages list each group's funders as filed: organizations and committees that gave at least $10,000, and individuals who gave a single group at least $250,000. Groups holding 94% of the outside dollars have at least one listed funder. For the rest, the bulk files show none above those floors.
What this does not include
The seat and group figures come from committees' regular reports and are a floor. Much of the late money appears so far only in the 24- and 48-hour notices; Hugin is reconciling the two records before attaching notice totals to each race. Party coordinated spending, communication costs and groups that do not report to the FEC are also excluded. Each figure stands as of the FEC's processing, not the end of the campaign.
A group's spending is its own speech. It is not evidence that a candidate asked for it, agreed with it or owes anything for it.
Check it yourself
- Every 2026 race, ranked by money, with each campaign's own receipts and spending
- Every outside group and who funds it
- Michigan's Senate race, filing by filing
- FEC bulk data, the source files
- FEC 24- and 48-hour independent expenditure notices, 2026
- CLF's FEC committee page