In 2010, the Supreme Court issued Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, a landmark ruling that overturned certain campaign finance restrictions.
Since then, spending by billionaires on American elections is up 160%, and more than $2.6 billion poured into the 2024 presidential election alone. This midterm cycle is on track to set a record for election participation by billionaires, according to Americans for Tax Fairness.
Billionaires across the political spectrum, from Elon Musk to George Soros, have already shoveled almost $1.6 billion into the 2026 midterms. Nearly 65% has gone to Republicans, according to the Washington Post.
And that money can shape American politics. Winning elections is costly. More than 90% of House candidates and 80% of Senate candidates who outspent their opponents won their elections, according to RepresentUs.
Typically, the largest sources of campaign money are large individual contributors and PACs.
The biggest bucks to the GOP
Hoping to secure seats for candidates favorable to artificial intelligence and venture capital, tech billionaires have largely contributed to Republican midterm efforts. By June, right-leaning donors had given $1.05 billion, according to the Washington Post.
Elon Musk is among the biggest donors, with an estimated $90.6 million already put toward this cycle. His total election spending is expected to reach somewhere between $100 million and $200 million.
Most of Musk’s money is funneled toward voter-turnout operations, especially in Texas, where the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, Ken Paxton, could help determine control of the chamber, according to Wired.
While Musk primarily gave to his own PACs, the quant trader and tech mogul Jeff Yass contributed directly to Donald Trump’s MAGA Inc. Super PAC. Yass, founder of the trading giant Susquehanna International Group, has donated around $90 million this cycle, particularly in support of Victors, not Victims. That’s the super PAC behind Vivek Ramaswamy’s Republican bid for election as governor of Ohio.
The Israeli-American billionaire Miriam Adelson is a historically generous conservative donor. In April, she gave $40 million to the Republicans’ House and Senate super PACs, the Senate Leadership Fund and the Congressional Leadership Fund. The hedge fund managers Ken Griffin and Paul Singer have also given to these Republican war chests.
Democrats take the bait, too
Left-leaning donors have given approximately $360 million this cycle.
According to the Washington Post, the leading donor is George Soros, a Democrat, who donated $102 million to his family’s Democracy PAC. This cycle, Soros and his son are on track to surpass the $128 million they spent in the previous midterm election.
The LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman has contributed $10 million to Paxton’s Senate opponent, James Talarico. The venture capitalist and longtime Democratic supporter’s contribution accounted for nearly 80% of Talarico’s second-quarter haul, which outpaced Paxton’s by $60 million.
Hoping to bolster establishment-friendly candidates, the billionaire couple Stephen and Susan Mandel have donated more than $24 million this primary season. A significant amount went to Majority Democrats and the Bench, which are boosting moderate candidates like Mallory McMorrow, who dropped out of the Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat in Michigan a month before Abdul El-Sayed secured a victory over Haley Stevens, an incumbent congresswoman.
Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, pledged up to $5 million toward Assemblyman Micah Lasher, a who recently won the Democratic primary for a Manhattan congressional seat.
It’s not always so distinct
Another $230 million has poured through bipartisan donors, according to the Washington Post.
The OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman and his wife, Anna, have given directly to Trump. along with a number of pro-AI candidates across parties. The pair gave $50 million total, split between Leading the Future and MAGA Inc.
The Silicon Valley venture capitalists Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen contributed approximately $115 million to midterm efforts, according to The New York Times. About $12 million went to MAGA Inc., presumably in an effort to strengthen their relationship with the Trump administration as their industries increasingly face public scrutiny.
But the pair’s top recipients include the AI super PAC Leading the Future and the procrypto super PAC Fairshake. While the PACs aren’t politically affiliated, they support candidates whose policy and ideals align with their own.
Bipartisan donors back crypto, AI, and betting infrastructure
Industries that didn’t exist two decades ago are now among the biggest spenders in American elections.
The crypto, tech, and online gaming industries accounted for nearly $300 million in corporate midterm spending during the first quarter, according to Public Citizen. These industries often funnel money through PACs and other outside groups, some of which can obscure the original sources of funding.
Among the largest PACs this midterm cycle are bipartisan. Crypto-funded Fairshake, Coinbase-backed Stand with Crypto Alliance, and notable AI super PACs like Leading the Future, Public First, and Build American AI all donate to candidates across the board.
Major sports books like DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics have also contributed this election cycle through Win for America, a super PAC focused on electing state-level lawmakers with progambling stances—liberal and conservative.
The PAC is particularly active in Texas and Georgia, where sports betting has not been legalized, as well as Pennsylvania, where the state legislature is considering raising taxes on sports betting. It has donated a total of $72 million targeting local elections.