A couple of months after a US national election is finished, and the Federal Elections Commission has updated its statistics on campaign contributions and the heat and energy has died down a bit, I like to check the invaluable Open Secrets website run by the Center for Responsive Politics for what actually happened with campaign spending. Here are a few things that caught my eye.
Total spending for the 2014 Congressional races looks like it will come in at about $4 billion, quite similar to the amount spent in 2012 and 2010. In the context of a high-income country with a population of nearly 320 million, this is not a large amount. As I point out in my Principles of Economics textbook (which I naturally recommend for its combination of high quality and moderate price), \”For example, consumers in the U.S. economy spend about $2 billion per year on toothpaste. In 2012, Procter and Gamble spent $4.8 billion on advertising, and General Motors spent $3.1 billion. Americans spend about $22 billion per year on pet food—three times as much as was spent on the 2012 election.\” As another comparison, Americans spend about $8 billion each year celebrating Halloween. With the US government making decisions that involve $3.5-$4 trillion in spending and taxes, not to mention the nonmonetary effects of other laws regulatory rulings, people are going to allocate resources to try to affect those outcomes.
House
Financial activity for all House candidates, 2013-2014
| Party | No. of Cands | Total Raised | Total Spent | Total Cash on Hand |
Total from PACs |
Total from Indivs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | 1441 | $1,033,180,288 | $930,633,475 | $245,351,733 | $351,149,103 | $564,343,829 |
| Dems | 602 | $448,403,755 | $410,787,839 | $93,020,832 | $154,281,434 | $261,057,340 |
| Repubs | 760 | $581,399,054 | $516,523,959 | $152,283,163 | $196,852,079 | $301,213,198 |
Senate
Financial activity for all Senate candidates, 2013-2014
| Party | No. of Cands | Total Raised | Total Spent | Total Cash on Hand |
Total from PACs |
Total from Indivs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | 228 | $599,354,825 | $610,954,197 | $36,775,875 | $95,079,267 | $425,149,826 |
| Dems | 58 | $282,070,435 | $289,906,767 | $12,984,594 | $43,083,501 | $214,865,577 |
| Repubs | 137 | $309,647,055 | $313,431,223 | $23,740,980 | $51,981,948 | $207,829,180 |
An alternative measure from Open Secrets looks at the average spending per candidate, not overall. By this measure, spending by House candidated was largely equal between Democrats and Republicans, but Democratic candidates for the Senate spent more than twice as much as Republican candidates.
House
Financial activity for all House candidates, 2013-2014
| Party | No. of Cands | Average Raised | Average Spent | Average Cash on Hand |
Average from PACs |
Average from Indivs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | 1441 | $716,988 | $645,825 | $170,265 | $243,684 | $391,633 |
| Dems | 602 | $744,857 | $682,372 | $154,520 | $256,281 | $433,650 |
| Repubs | 760 | $764,999 | $679,637 | $200,373 | $259,016 | $396,333 |
Senate
Financial activity for all Senate candidates, 2013-2014
| Party | No. of Cands | Average Raised | Average Spent | Average Cash on Hand |
Average from PACs |
Average from Indivs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | 228 | $2,628,749 | $2,679,624 | $161,298 | $417,014 | $1,864,692 |
| Dems | 58 | $4,863,283 | $4,998,393 | $223,872 | $742,819 | $3,704,579 |
| Repubs | 137 | $2,260,197 | $2,287,819 | $173,292 | $379,430 | $1,517,001 |
|
Rank
|
Organization
|
Total Contributions
|
To Dems & Liberals
|
To Repubs & Conservs
|
Pct to Dems & Liberals
|
Pct to Repubs & Conservs
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fahr LLC/Tom Steyer | $73,843,859 | $73,843,859 | $0 | 100% | 0% |
| 2 | ActBlue | $51,851,390 | $51,812,265 | $33,675 | 100% | 0% |
| 3 | National Education Assn | $25,172,772 | $24,349,340 | $210,975 | 99% | 1% |
| 4 | Bloomberg Lp | $20,255,858 | $6,779,915 | $509,050 | 93% | 7% |
| 5 | Carpenters & Joiners Union | $15,413,435 | $14,714,685 | $698,750 | 96% | 5% |
| 6 | National Assn of Realtors | $14,700,704 | $2,265,329 | $2,358,720 | 49% | 51% |
| 7 | Elliott Management | $12,471,216 | $7,450 | $12,463,766 | 0% | 100% |
| 8 | Service Employees International Union | $12,238,137 | $12,233,137 | $0 | 100% | 0% |
| 9bht | Senate Majority PAC | $9,417,379 | $9,417,379 | $0 | 100% | 0% |
| 10 | American Federation of Teachers | $8,856,636 | $8,830,636 | $16,000 | 100% | 0% |
| 11 | Democratic Governors Assn | $8,767,372 | $8,767,372 | $0 | 100% | 0% |
| 12 | Renaissance Technologies | $8,731,150 | $350,300 | $8,380,850 | 4% | 96% |
| 13 | American Fedn of St/Cnty/Munic Employees | $8,632,312 | $8,472,062 | $11,250 | 100% | 0% |
| 14 | AFL-CIO | $8,173,622 | $8,037,622 | $134,000 | 98% | 2% |
| 15 | Newsweb Corp | $8,141,950 | $7,741,950 | $250,000 | 97% | 3% |
| 16 | United Food & Commercial Workers Union | $7,759,704 | $7,702,104 | $12,600 | 100% | 0% |
| 17 | Koch Industries | $7,703,335 | $53,700 | $7,730,635 | 1% | 99% |
| 18 | Plumbers/Pipefitters Union | $7,024,865 | $6,057,827 | $201,300 | 97% | 3% |
| 19 | United Steelworkers | $6,742,242 | $1,429,100 | $8,500 | 99% | 1% |
| 20 | Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers | $6,175,410 | $6,001,570 | $88,840 | 99% | 2% |
I do worry about the role of money and media in a democracy. But I am also wary of those in government, from both parties, who want to set up rules that would limit how people or organizations can seek to affect political outcomes. Such rules often seem tailored to make it harder for incumbents to be challenged, or harder for political opponents to make their case. If politicians really want to make a statement about getting money out of politics, how about if they stop trying to limit the political expressions of others, and instead enact stronger rules that limit them from taking highly-paid jobs as lobbyists after leaving office? Frankly, I worry more about behind-the-scenes lobbying than I do about obnoxious political advertisements.
