Election campaigns are expensive, especially in the USA. Candidates therefore collect large sums of money in donations. An overview of how they are used.
Nothing works without money: The US election campaign swallows up enormous sums of money every time. 14.4 billion US dollars were spent in 2020 alone – 5.7 billion dollars for the presidential election campaign, the rest for the US congressional election, which took place at the same time. This year, too, the campaigns have already received numerous million-dollar donations.
For example, supporters donated $81 million to the Democratic Party on the day after Joe Biden withdrew from the election campaign. “This was the biggest day for online donations by Democrats since the 2020 election,” writes the New York Times. According to the US organization Open Secrets, Biden had previously raised $401 million and Trump $450 million.
If Harris becomes the Democratic presidential candidate, she will probably be able to access Biden’s money because she was part of his re-election campaign as his vice president. A completely new candidate would have to solicit these donations again.
But the donation system is complicated. Often the money does not go directly to the candidates, but is used by organizations to support their favorite candidates.
Direct donations from citizens to candidates are limited to €2,800. That’s why major donors give their money to so-called Super Political Action Committees, or Super PACs for short. These lobby organizations usually support a specific candidate and use the money to support them. Read more about how it works here.
However, they are not allowed to pass the money on directly to the politicians. Instead, they pay for expensive television advertising, which accounts for a large part of the expenditure. This includes campaigns to explicitly denigrate opponents. The candidates also use the money donated directly to them to finance their own spots. In the spring, for example, Biden’s team spent $30 million on a single spot. In addition, there are costs for campaign offices, staff, travel and appearances.
While money is important for spreading your message and increasing popularity, history shows that the candidate with the most money does not necessarily win. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent $1.1 billion in the 2020 Democratic primary alone.
He used the money to run countless TV ads, lure employees with lavish salaries and expensive equipment, and offer food and drinks at campaign events. It was to no avail: Bloomberg withdrew for the time being. This year he has already donated several million to Joe Biden.
