Top 50 donors pour $2.77 billion into 2026 midterms

The fifty largest donors and organizations have provided a combined $2.77 billion for the 2026 United States midterm election cycle. Federal Election Commission data shows that political advertising spending is projected to reach $11.6 billion, making this the most expensive election in American history. This total exceeds the costs of the 2024 presidential race.

Contributions are heavily skewed toward the Republican side. Republican-aligned groups have donated $1.67 billion, which accounts for approximately 60 percent of the total. Democratic-aligned contributors have provided $832 million, or 30 percent. The remaining $264 million, about 10 percent, came from bipartisan or special interest groups, including entities supporting sports betting and the cryptocurrency industry.

Elon Musk, the head of Tesla and SpaceX, is the largest individual contributor with $446 million. He is followed by Elizabeth and Richard Uihlein, founders of the shipping supplies company Uline, who donated $150 million. Jeff and Janine Yass, where Jeff Yass cofounded the trading firm Susquehanna International Group, contributed $110 million. All three of these top individual donors have given money to Republican-aligned groups.

On the Democratic side, George Soros, the founder of the Open Society Foundations, leads the individual rankings with $102 million. Mike Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, has donated $84 million. Reid Hoffman, the cofounder of LinkedIn, and his wife Michelle Yee have contributed $41 million. Four individual donors in total have each given more than $100 million to the cycle.

Organizational donations are dominated by political nonprofits and cryptocurrency firms. One Nation, a nonprofit aligned with Senate Republican leadership, is the largest organizational donor with $133 million. American Action Network, linked to House Republican leadership, has donated $64.3 million. On the Democratic side, Majority Forward, allied with Senate leadership, has given $102 million, while House Majority Forward has contributed $93.7 million.

Cryptocurrency companies rank highly among organizational donors. Coinbase, the largest United States crypto exchange, gave $57.8 million. Ripple, a blockchain payments company, contributed $49.6 million. Foris DAX, the company behind Crypto.com, donated $39 million. The industrial conglomerate Koch Industries gave $46.8 million, and the sports betting company DraftKings contributed $40.4 million.

Much of this money flows through super political action committees, or super PACs, which can accept unlimited donations as long as they do not coordinate with candidates. This structure allows donors to give hundreds of millions of dollars despite individual limits of $3,500 per election for direct candidate campaigns. Some major contributors, such as One Nation and Majority Forward, are nonprofit groups that do not have to disclose their own donors to the public, a practice known as dark money.

Lawrence Lessig, a professor of law at Harvard Law School, stated that the primary issue is the concentration of wealth among donors rather than the total amount spent. He noted that if a person does not have $100 million to offer, they may not have the same influence in the democratic process. The November 3 vote will determine the balance of power in Washington.