OpenSecrets

10/15/2026

Outside spenders have gone negative this election cycle. Super PACs and other outside groups have spent $2.4 billion during the cycle. More than 60% of it – nearly $1.5 billion – was spent to oppose candidates, not to support them.

10/15/2026

October 15th is the deadline for Quarter 3 fundraising reports. ⏳

This filing offers the final look at a full quarter of campaign fundraising before the November midterms.

Follow us for full coverage and analysis ahead of the election.

10/14/2026

Outside spending in federal races now tops $2.4 billion, with less than three weeks until the Nov. 3 general election.

That’s money spent independently of campaigns to support or oppose candidates.

More than $330 million, nearly 14% of the total, was spent opposing three Democratic Senate candidates:

📍 James Talarico Texas
📍 Sherrod Brown in Ohio
📍 Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan

Read more:

Roughly $1 of every $7 that super PACs and other outside groups have spent has gone to opposing just 3 Democrats running for Senate seats.

10/14/2026

Something Americans of both parties agree on: curbing the role of money in politics.

A new University of Maryland survey of nearly 20,000 Americans in 11 competitive states and 28 competitive House districts found bipartisan support for a constitutional amendment allowing Congress to restrict corporate and PAC election spending, effectively overturning Citizens United.

📍 Democrats in favor: 80% to 93% across those states/districts
📍 Republicans in favor: 73% to 89%
📍 Nationally: Democrats 85%, Republicans 82%

Follow us to keep following the money 🔎.

Read more:

Even in the most divided parts of the country, voters agree that Congress should overturn Citizens United and ban their stock trading.

10/09/2026

State of Disclosure: How does Rhode Island track money in politics?

We sat down with Miguel Nuñez (Executive Director) and Rick Thornton (Director of Campaign Finance) at the Rhode Island Board of Elections to discuss transparency, compliance and enforcement across the state.

This interview is part of our ongoing series, The State of Disclosure, examining how states track campaign fundraising and political spending.

Watch the full interview:

The top election officials in Rhode Island discuss the state's campaign finance system, including their efforts to increase transparency.

10/08/2026

Outside spending is nearing $2 billion this election cycle, with weeks still to go.

Six groups have each spent more than $60 million: Senate Leadership Fund, Texas PAC, No Going Back PAC, WinSenate PAC, Congressional Leadership Fund and Americans for Prosperity Action.

Together, they account for more than $678 million, over a third of the outside spending by the 794 groups we track.

Read more:

Outside groups have put $2B into the election with weeks of spending still to come. A handful of orgs is responsible for a big share of the money.

10/06/2026

Chart of the Week 📊: In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we pulled political contributions over $200 made by donors with the six most common Hispanic surnames. We found the giving favored Democrats in every election this century.

10/04/2026

Redboxing: The loophole that lets campaigns tell super PACs exactly what to do

10/02/2026

While federal regulators argue prediction markets are a commodities issue subject to their oversight, states want to treat them like gambling (under state supervision). So platforms like Kalshi are spending million in the states so they are positioned to influence policy if the states the win the fight.

Read our full coverage:

As states fight to regulate prediction markets, platforms like Kalshi are pouring millions into lobbying state AGs and federal officials.

10/01/2026

For too long, understanding the true influence of money in politics meant navigating a fragmented maze of disparate state and federal databases. Today, that barrier comes down.

OpenSecrets is proud to announce the official launch of our new dashboard, marking the first time federal and state campaign finance data is aggregated into a single, unified platform. 🔎

By eliminating the divide between federal and state disclosures, this platform offers unprecedented intelligence:

Complete Political Coverage: Track granular financial activity seamlessly across gubernatorial, legislative, judicial, and statewide ballot contests alongside federal campaigns.

Deep Donor Demographics: Utilize advanced filtering to analyze contribution patterns by geography, industry, employer, gender, and donation size.

Whether you are a journalist, researcher, or voter, having state and federal data all in one place transforms how we analyze political influence.

📲 Explore the data now: https://www.opensecrets.org/state-profiles