12:57
$9.8 billion has been raised so far for campaigns and superPACs ahead of this year's midterm elections. As of October 2026, almost an eighth of that money is coming from just 20 donors. George Soros, Elon Musk and Ken Griffin alone contributed over $225 million, according to a CNBC analysis of Federal Election Commission records. The money it takes to run for office and to successfully be elected has just continued to grow and grow, cycle after cycle. But with less than a month until Election Day and the GOP struggling to retain its House majority, why are so many
Democratic mega-donors keeping their wallets largely shut? And who are the top billionaire donors contributing to Republican groups? Nine out of the top ten individuals and families contributing money to this year's midterm elections are Republican aligned donors. For every dollar contributed by donors in the top ten, $0.86 comes from a billionaire backing a Republican, a 28% increase from 2022. When you have billionaires and major corporations spending hundreds of millions of dollars trying to elect specific individuals, that they really have an outsized, much larger and louder voice in our democracy than everyone else.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has so far poured roughly $90.6 million into the 2026 cycle, including more than $50 million into his America PAC. The super PAC has so far spent nearly $20 million across House and Senate races this cycle. Susquehanna International Group co-founder Jeffrey Yass and his wife, Jeanine have given 95 million. Miriam Adelson, the widow of Sheldon Adelson, the founder and former CEO of the Las Vegas sands has given more than 67 million, and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz and their firm have contributed about $91 million. But while traditional Wall Street heavyweights and industry titans
remain major Republican donors, a new crop of benefactors has entered the fray, according to a CNBC analysis. Cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence and online gambling donors and their companies have poured roughly $377 million into this election cycle, accounting for nearly one third of the money from the top 20 largest donors and donor groups. Openai co-founder Greg Brockman and his wife, Anna have given $50 million. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss contributed roughly $55 million, and crypto.com operator Forrest Stacks has given $38.6 million. Along with Andreessen and Horowitz, those three donor groups alone have contributed roughly $93 million to Maga Inc. That's President Donald Trump's flagship, Super PAC, which entered September with
$415.8 million in cash. Companies in the space are directing millions into industry focused political groups too. Coinbase has contributed roughly 57.7 million this cycle. Ripple has given nearly 50 million, mainly to crypto backed groups, including Fairshake. DraftKings has contributed nearly 35 million, including 34 million to Win for America, the sports betting industry super PAC. AI is really taking that playbook that crypto essentially wrote over the last two election cycles, and they're sort of turbocharging it.
While America's biggest political donors are lining up behind Republicans, many Democratic megadonors are so far staying on the sidelines. The top reasons, according to Democratic powerbrokers, lingering anger over the 2024 presidential defeat, anxiety over democratic socialism, and a loss of faith in the DNC's Washington leadership. That's had a big impact on DNC finances. The group ended August with 16.9 million in cash and 17.6 million in debt, versus 125.6 million at the RNC. Instead of funding the DNC directly, many big donors are contributing to individuals and targeted super PACs. Former New York City mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg gave $11 million to a super PAC supporting Micah Lasher in New
York's 12th Congressional District and another 2.5 million towards Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's reelection. Linkedin's co-founder, Reid Hoffman, gave $11.5 million this cycle to the super PAC backing James Talarico, the Democratic Texas Senate nominee. Talarico, a Democratic funding powerhouse, raised $68.6 million through June 30th. Political spending could reach $11.6 billion in 2026, setting a new record and even surpassing previous presidential election years.
