The 2024 US presidential election is the most expensive of all time: a total of 15.9 billion dollars (14.55 billion euros) was spent by both campaigns, as the non-profit organization OpenSecrets announced on Tuesday. The spending, which also includes the congressional election taking place at the same time, exceeds the $15.1 billion in 2020. The amount has more than doubled compared to 2016 ($6.5 billion).
Democratic candidate Kamala Harris has been more successful in fundraising than her Republican rival Donald Trump: Her campaign raised a billion dollars in direct donations, 40 percent of which came from small donors, and another $586 million from the lobbying groups founded to support her, the Political Action Committees (PAC). Donald Trump's campaign raised $382 million directly, 28 percent of which came from small donors, and another $694 million from lobbying groups.
The largest individual donor to Trump was 82-year-old entrepreneur Timothy Mellon, who contributed $197 million to the right-wing populist's election campaign. Other Trump supporters included Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, the doctor Miriam Adelson and the Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk, who each supported the Republican campaign with more than a hundred million dollars.
On the Democratic Party side, entrepreneur Michael Bloomberg was the largest donor with $93 million. George Soros contributed $56 million through his PAC.
According to data from the advertising agency AdImpact, a total of $10.5 billion was spent on election advertising. A particularly large amount of money was invested by the presidential candidates in the crucial swing states, with Pennsylvania as the frontrunner ($264 million), followed by Michigan ($151 million) and Georgia ($137 million).
According to AdImpact, $419 million was spent on election advertising on digital platforms. On Facebook and Instagram, Democrats outnumbered Republicans, $132.4 million to $24.7 million. In the online service X, which belongs to Trump supporter Musk, the Republicans invested $1.1 million and the Democrats only $150,000.
