The 2026 US midterm elections are on course to become the most expensive in the country's history, according to bdnews24.com, with an unprecedented volume of money flowing into the contests and a large share of it coming from the wealthiest donors. Advertising tracking firm Ad Impact projects that spending on political advertising alone will reach a record $11.6 billion, a figure bdnews24.com reports would exceed any previous US election, including the 2024 presidential race.
The most striking element, bdnews24.com reports, is the concentration of that money. The country's 50 largest mega-donors — individuals and organisations — have given a combined $2.77 billion, a sum with no precedent in earlier US elections.
Why it matters
The totals matter less for their size than for where they come from. bdnews24.com reports that Republican-leaning donors supplied $1.67 billion, roughly 60 percent of the top-50 total, more than double the $832 million given by Democratic-leaning donors, who accounted for about 30 percent. The remaining roughly 10 percent, about $264 million, came from groups classified as bipartisan or as representing specific interests, including organisations that back sports betting and cryptocurrency.
Under federal rules for the 2025–26 cycle, an individual US citizen may give a maximum of $3,500 per election to a federal candidate's campaign, bdnews24.com notes. The nine-figure sums on the donor list are possible because most of the money did not go directly to candidates but to super political action committees, or super PACs, which may accept donations of any size.
How the money reaches the race
Super PACs are groups that can raise and spend unlimited amounts to support or oppose candidates, chiefly through advertising. Their main restriction is that they may not coordinate their spending with a candidate or that candidate's campaign. bdnews24.com reports that the rise of these groups followed two court rulings in 2010 that opened the way for unlimited independent spending outside candidate campaigns.
Super PACs must report their donors to the Federal Election Commission, the body that oversees US federal elections. But some major givers, including the nonprofits One Nation and Majority Forward, are not required to disclose their own donors, bdnews24.com reports — a structure that can conceal the original source of political money, commonly called "dark money."
Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard Law School professor of law and leadership and a lawyer who has campaigned for campaign finance reform, argued in a debate on Al Jazeera's "Let's Focus" programme with former FEC chairman Bradley Smith that this money is hidden only from the public. "It's not secret to the politicians. It's secret to us," bdnews24.com quotes him telling Josh Rushing. He said nobody on the politicians' side is confused about where the money comes from or what they are expected to do.
The biggest names on the list
According to Federal Election Commission data cited by bdnews24.com, Elon Musk, the world's richest person and head of Tesla and SpaceX, is the largest individual donor of this midterm cycle at $446 million. Next are Elizabeth and Richard Uihlein, founders of the shipping supply company Uline, and Jeff and Janine Yass; Jeff Yass co-founded the trading firm Susquehanna International Group. All three gave to Republican-leaning groups.
The leading Democratic-leaning donors, bdnews24.com reports, are billionaire investor and Open Society Foundations founder George Soros; former New York City mayor and Bloomberg founder Mike Bloomberg; and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and his wife Michelle Yee. Four individual donors each gave more than $100 million.
Among organisations, political nonprofits top the rankings, alongside cryptocurrency firms and one industry group. On the Republican side the largest was One Nation, a nonprofit tied to the party's Senate leadership, followed by the American Action Network, linked to the party's House leadership. On the Democratic side, the nonprofits Majority Forward and House Majority Forward, connected to the party's Senate and House leadership respectively, led the field.
Crypto companies were conspicuous participants. Coinbase, the largest US cryptocurrency exchange, gave $57.8 million, bdnews24.com reports, followed by blockchain payments company Ripple at $49.6 million and Foris DAX, the company behind Crypto.com, at $39 million. The industry group Koch gave $46.8 million and sports betting company DraftKings gave $40.4 million.
For Lessig, the concern is not the overall scale of spending but how few people are supplying it. "The problem is not the amount of money being spent. The problem is the extreme concentration of donors," bdnews24.com quotes him as saying. He added that anyone without $100 million to put on the table will carry no weight in a democracy of the kind people ought to have.
Voting took place on 3 November, and bdnews24.com also reported disruptions to polling in several states caused by technology, weather and power failures. Other Bangladeshi outlets covering the same election projected a large Democratic victory and asked whether the Trump era would end with these midterms.
What to watch next is the final spending tally once all advertising and FEC filings are complete, and whether the donor concentration Lessig describes draws fresh scrutiny of super PAC disclosure rules.
