Political campaign finance statistics show how much U.S. candidates, party committees and political action committees raised and spent during the 2023-2024 election cycle. The Federal Election Commission’s figures also cover cash on hand, debt, independent expenditures, contribution limits for 2025-2026 and enforcement activity in fiscal years 2024 and 2025.
Contents
- 2023-2024 election-cycle totals
- Presidential and congressional campaigns
- Party committee finance
- PACs and independent expenditures
- Contribution limits for 2025-2026
- Campaign-finance enforcement
2023-2024 election-cycle totals
The FEC Statistical Summary of 24-Month Campaign Activity of the 2023-2024 Election Cycle covers activity from January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2024. Its figures separate candidate committees, party committees, PACs and several types of political communication.
| Group or activity | Receipts or amount raised | Spending or reported amount |
|---|---|---|
| Presidential candidates | $2,012.0 million | $1,796.7 million |
| Congressional candidates | $3,801.5 million | $3,704.2 million |
| Political party committees | $2,746.1 million | $2,646.3 million |
| PACs | $15,744.1 million | $15,520.3 million |
| Independent expenditures | — | $4,426.5 million |
Presidential candidates raised $2,012.0 million and spent $1,796.7 million over the cycle. Congressional candidates reported $3,801.5 million raised and $3,704.2 million spent. Political party committees raised $2,746.1 million and spent $2,646.3 million.
PACs were the largest of these listed fundraising groups by total activity. They raised $15,744.1 million and spent $15,520.3 million during the same period. These totals describe the category as a whole, not the finances of one committee.
The cycle also included $4,426.5 million in independent expenditures. Electioneering communications totaled $11.3 million, while communication costs totaled $39.7 million. Independent expenditures and communications are reported separately from the candidate and committee receipts-and-disbursements figures above.
Presidential and congressional campaigns
As of December 31, 2024, 109 individuals had filed campaign finance reports for the 2024 presidential election. Those presidential candidates had combined cash on hand of $139.0 million and combined debt of $49.3 million at that date.
The congressional candidate totals included 2,152 candidate committees in the 2024 cycle table. The group reported $3,801.5 million raised, $3,704.2 million spent, $475.4 million in debts owed and $580.3 million in cash on hand. The cash and debt figures are end-of-period balances, while the receipts and spending figures cover the cycle.
The congressional totals can also be divided between Senate and House candidates:
| Candidate group | Committees or candidates | Receipts | Disbursements | Debt | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senate candidates | 266 | $1.5 billion | $1.5 billion | $208.4 million | $90.6 million |
| House candidates | 1,886 | $2.3 billion | $2.2 billion | $267 million | $489.7 million |
In the 2024 congressional cycle, 266 Senate candidates reported $1.5 billion in receipts and $1.5 billion in disbursements. Their reported debts were $208.4 million, with $90.6 million in cash on hand. The 1,886 House candidates reported $2.3 billion in receipts and $2.2 billion in disbursements, alongside $267 million in debts and $489.7 million in cash on hand.
These Senate and House amounts are presented at the rounded precision used in the FEC statistical summary. They should not be treated as newly calculated subtotals beyond the reported table values.
Party committee finance
The two major national party committees reported different levels of receipts, disbursements and cash on hand for 2023-2024. The Democratic National Committee reported $683.6 million in receipts and $692.1 million in disbursements. Its cash on hand was $22.1 million as of December 31, 2024.
The Republican National Committee reported $475.8 million in receipts and $452.0 million in disbursements. Its cash on hand was $38.1 million as of December 31, 2024.
| National committee | Receipts, 2023-2024 | Disbursements, 2023-2024 | Cash on hand at December 31, 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic National Committee | $683.6 million | $692.1 million | $22.1 million |
| Republican National Committee | $475.8 million | $452.0 million | $38.1 million |
State and local Democratic party committees received $694.2 million in federal funds in 2023-2024. State and local Republican party committees received $385.9 million in federal funds. Party committees other than the two major parties reported $10.9 million in receipts as of December 31, 2024.
PACs and independent expenditures
The FEC counted 9,233 federal PACs in 2023-2024. Within that total were 1,677 separate segregated fund corporate PACs, 265 separate segregated fund labor PACs, 2,526 independent expenditure-only political committees, 898 committees with non-contribution accounts and 838 leadership PACs.
PAC contributions to federal candidates totaled about $452.8 million during 2023-2024. Senate candidates received $57.1 million in PAC contributions, while House candidates received $394.3 million. Presidential candidates received $1.5 million in PAC contributions.
Independent expenditures were distributed across several categories. Independent expenditure-only committees accounted for $2.7 billion. Committees with non-contribution accounts reported $1.4 billion. Other PACs reported $66.9 million, persons other than political committees reported $86 million, and party committees reported $177.5 million.
The figures describe reported independent expenditures for the 2023-2024 cycle. They do not describe the total cost of every form of political communication, because electioneering communications and communication costs are separate categories in the FEC summary.
Contribution limits for 2025-2026
The FEC Contribution limits for 2025-2026 set different limits according to the donor and recipient. The following figures are limits, not amounts reported as received during the 2023-2024 election cycle.
For an individual, the limit to a candidate committee is $3,500 per election. The individual limit to a PAC is $5,000 per year. An individual may give $10,000 per year combined to a state, district or local party committee, $44,300 per year to a national party committee and $132,900 per year to additional national party committee accounts.
An individual candidate committee may give $2,000 per election to another candidate committee. A multicandidate PAC may give $5,000 per election to a candidate committee, $5,000 per year to another PAC, $5,000 per year combined to a state, district or local party committee, $15,000 per year to a national party committee and $45,000 per year to additional national party accounts.
The non-multicandidate PAC limits are $3,500 per election to a candidate committee, $5,000 per year to a PAC, $10,000 per year combined to a state, district or local party committee, $44,300 per year to a national party committee and $132,900 per year to additional national party accounts.
State, district and local party committees may give $5,000 per election to a candidate committee and $5,000 per year to a PAC. Transfers to another party committee are unlimited. National party committees may give $5,000 per election to a candidate committee and $5,000 per year to a PAC; transfers to another party committee are also unlimited.
The contribution chart says that a national party committee and its Senatorial campaign committee may contribute up to $62,000 combined per campaign to each Senate candidate.
Campaign-finance enforcement
The FEC Enforcement Statistics for Fiscal Years 1977-2026 table covers fiscal years 1977 through 2026. It was updated May 15, 2026, with data through April 30, 2026. The fiscal-year figures below distinguish closed matters, conciliation agreements, approved settlements and administrative fines.
In fiscal 2025, the FEC recorded $1,654,288 in total penalty amounts for closed enforcement matters and closed 148 enforcement matters. There were 25 MURs closed with conciliation agreements, with an average civil penalty of $41,820 per MUR and total MUR civil penalties of $1,045,500.
The agency closed 26 ADR cases in fiscal 2025, including 25 cases closed with approved settlements. The average civil penalty with an approved settlement was $5,641, and total ADR civil penalties were $141,031. Administrative fine cases numbered 108, of which 92 had fines. The average AF penalty was $5,084, and total AF penalties were $467,757.
For comparison, fiscal 2024 had $1,397,482 in total penalty amounts for closed enforcement matters and 134 closed enforcement matters. There were 26 MURs closed with conciliation agreements; the average civil penalty was $20,515 and total MUR civil penalties were $533,399.
Fiscal 2024 also had 49 closed ADR cases, including 45 with approved settlements. The average civil penalty with an approved settlement was $8,155, and total ADR civil penalties were $399,600. The FEC closed 132 administrative fine cases, 98 of which had fines. The average AF penalty was $4,740, and total AF penalties were $464,483. The reported total AF penalties by two-year cycle were $1,673,625.
These enforcement figures are organized by fiscal year and case type, while the fundraising figures earlier in this article are organized by election cycle. The two time frameworks measure different aspects of political campaign finance and should be read separately.