FEC Summarizes Campaign Activity of the 2011-2012 Election Cycle

WASHINGTON–Presidential and congressional candidates running in the 2012 election cycle, political parties and political action committees (PACs) received more than $7.1 billion and disbursed nearly $7 billion in 2011-2012, according to campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission that cover activity from January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2012. Filings submitted to the Commission in this two-year period indicated that disbursements for independent expenditures and electioneering communications totaled nearly $1.3 billion.

This release summarizes campaign activity in the 2011-2012 election cycle. Supporting data tables are linked at the end of each summary section below.

*To maintain consistency with how they had been calculated in prior years, the totals for Party Committees above and the sums for the State and Local Democratic Party Committees (federal funds), State and Local Republican Party Committees (federal funds), Total Other Party and Total lines in the Political Party Committees table were revised on March 27, 2014 to include transfers between party committees and transfers between party committees’ federal and nonfederal accounts that had been inadvertently excluded from the original calculations, and to exclude sums representing the Levin share of Federal Election Activity that had been inadvertently included in the original calculations.

I. Presidential Candidates

Presidential candidates reported raising nearly $1.4 billion and spending nearly $1.4 billion from January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2012.

The total amount of debt owed by 2012 presidential candidate committees was $13.8 million as of December 31, 2012. These candidates’ combined cash-on-hand was $5.5 million.

The following table summarizes campaign finance activity of presidential candidates through the end of election years since 2000.

*Includes activity from January 1 of the pre-presidential election year through December 31 of the presidential election year. Only presidential candidates who raised more than $100,000 in contributions from individuals other than the candidate, or spent $100,000, are included in this table. Contribution limits are indexed for inflation every cycle.

The receipt totals above include matching funds received for primary election contributions. To become eligible for matching funds, a candidate must raise a threshold amount of $100,000 by collecting $5,000 in each of 20 states in amounts no greater than $250 from any individual. Other requirements include agreeing to an overall spending limit, abiding by spending limits in each state, using public funds only for qualified campaign-related expenses, keeping financial records and permitting an extensive campaign audit.

In the 2012 cycle, the maximum amount a primary election candidate could receive was $22,810,350. As of December 31, 2012, the Commission certified payments for primary matching funds to three presidential campaigns: $510,260.98 to one, $351,961.10 to a second and $372,130.44 to a third.In January 2013, the Commission certified an additional payment of $121,755.77 for primary matching funds, bringing the total certified to date for the 2012 cycle to $1,356,108.29.

As of the close of this 24-month period, no candidates had received general election grant money. Additional information about the public financing of presidential elections can be found here.

Data summary tables for reports submitted to the Commission through December 31, 2012 by 2012 presidential candidate committees can be found here. Historical campaign finance activity for presidential candidates can be found here.

II. Congressional Candidates

The 1,949 candidates running in the 2012 election cycle for the United States House of Representatives and Senate reported raising a total of nearly $1.9 billion and spending nearly $1.9 billion between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2012. House and Senate candidates reported combined total debts of $107.2 million and combined total cash-on-hand of $211.1 million as of December 31, 2012.

The following table summarizes campaign finance activity of House and Senate candidates for the two-year election cycles since 2002.

*Includes activity from January 1 of the pre-election year through December 31 of the election year. Contribution limits are indexed for inflation every cycle. The totals in the 2012 row may differ slightly from the sum of the numbers in the two subsequent paragraphs as the numbers have been rounded. The number of candidates was calculated based on how many filed campaign reports with financial activity in a given election cycle.

The 251 candidates running in the 33 Senate races in 2012 reported total receipts of $742.3 million, disbursements of $747.9 million, debts of $32.7 million and cash-on-hand of $37.1 million.

The 1,698 candidates running in 435 House races reported combined total receipts of more than 1.1 billion, disbursements of nearly $1.1 billion, debts of $74.5 million and cash-on-hand of $174 million.

Data summary tables for reports submitted to the Commission through December 31, 2012 by 2012 congressional candidate committees can be found here.

III. Political Party Committees

National, state and local political party committees reported combined total receipts of more than $1.6 billion in federal funds, disbursements of nearly $1.6 billion, debts of $78.3 million, and cash-on-hand of $36 million for the 2012 election cycle. Of those totals, other party committees reported receipts of $5.8 million, disbursements of $5.8 million, debts of $221,416, and combined cash-on-hand of $563,862 as of the end of 2012.

The following table summarizes campaign finance activity of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), Republican National Committee (RNC), National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), as well as each party’s state and local committees and other party committees.

Political Party Activity from Jan. 1, 2011 through Dec. 31, 2012***
(figures in millions)

*The receipt and disbursement totals in this line may not equal the sum of the numbers in the corresponding columns as the numbers have been adjusted to account for transfers between party committees.

**Other party committees include the Libertarian National Committee, Libertarian National Congressional Committee, Green Party of the United States, Green Senatorial Campaign Committee, Constitution Party National Committee, and the Reform Party of the United States of America.

***To maintain consistency with how they had been calculated in prior years, the sums for the State and Local Democratic Party Committees (federal funds), State and Local Republican Party Committees (federal funds), Total Other Party and Total lines were revised on March 27, 2014 to include transfers between party committees and transfers between party committees’ federal and nonfederal accounts that had been inadvertently excluded from the original calculations, and to exclude sums representing the Levin share of Federal Election Activity that had been inadvertently included in the original calculations.

Individuals, for whom contributions to national parties were limited to $30,800 in the 2012 election cycle, were the largest source of federal funds for party committees. Democratic party committees reported receiving $417.9 million from individuals, while Republican party committees received $430.9 million from individuals. PACs and other political committees contributed $67.5 million to Democratic party committees and $83.8 million to Republican party committees in 2011-2012.

Democratic and Republican House campaign committees transferred $25.5 million and $44.7 million, respectively, from their campaign accounts to their national congressional party committees in 2011-2012. Democratic and Republican U.S. Senate campaign committees transferred $10.8 million and $1.2 million, respectively, from their campaign accounts to their national senatorial party committees in 2011-2012.

Data summary tables for reports submitted to the Commission through December 31, 2012 by political party committees can be found here.

IV. Political Action Committees (PACs)

Based on reports filed with the Commission in 2011-2012, 7,311 federal PACs reported total receipts of nearly $2.3 billion, disbursements of nearly $2.2 billion, debts of $24.4 million, and a combined cash-on-hand of $409.4 million.

The following table summarizes campaign finance activity of PACs based on PAC type in 2011-2012. This table includes both nonconnected committees and separate segregated funds (SSFs), which have connected organizations such as corporations or labor organizations that establish, administer or raise money on their behalf.

**The totals in this line may not equal the sum of the numbers in the corresponding columns as these numbers have been rounded. Instead, the bottom-line totals correspond to PAC Table 1.

Contributions by PACs to federal candidates seeking office in 2011 and 2012 totaled $423.1 million as of December 31, 2012. PAC contributions to Senate, House and presidential candidates totaled $80.1 million, $341.2 million and $1.8 million, respectively. Independent Expenditure-Only Committees are prohibited from making contributions to candidates.

Data summary tables for reports submitted to the Commission through December 31, 2012 by PACs can be found here.

V. Independent Expenditures

In 2011-2012, all independent expenditure filings* reported to the Commission totaled more than $1.25 billion. Independent Expenditure-Only Committees accounted for $606.8 million of all independent expenditure filings received by the Commission, while Committees with Non-Contribution Accounts reported $12.9 million. Independent expenditures made by persons other than political committees totaled $300.4 million. Independent expenditures by party committees and other PACs totaled $252.4 million and $78 million, respectively.

Independent expenditures reported to the Commission in connection with the 2012 presidential election totaled approximately $583.8 million as of December 31, 2012, with approximately $373.5 million reported by Independent Expenditure-Only Committees, $8.3 million reported by Committees with Non-Contribution Accounts and $26.1 million reported by other PACs. Persons other than political committees and party committees reporting making $131.7 million and nearly $44.3 million, respectively, in independent expenditures in connection with the presidential election. Independent expenditures advocating the election of presidential candidates totaled $118.5 million, while $465.3 million was reported to advocate the defeat of presidential candidates.

Independent expenditures reported in connection with congressional races totaled $666.7 million. Independent Expenditure-Only Committees, the largest source of these expenditures, reported $233.3 million. Independent expenditures made by PACs (other than Independent Expenditure-Only Committees and Committees with Non-Contribution Accounts) and party committees totaled approximately $52 million and $208.1 million, respectively. Persons other than political committees reported making $168.7 million in independent expenditures in connection with congressional elections, while Committees with Non-Contribution Accounts reported $4.6 million.

Independent Expenditure-Only Committees reported total receipts of $824 million, disbursements of $796.9 million, $11.8 million in debt, and a combined cash-on-hand of $33.3 million. Committees with Non-Contribution Accounts reported raising $179.4 million, spending $175.3 million, debts of more than $202,000, and combined cash-on-hand of $9.8 million through December 31, 2012. This data is summarized in detail in the PAC data summary tables found here.

Data summary tables for independent expenditure filings submitted to the Commission through December 31, 2012 can be found here.

*Independent expenditures are subject to disclosure requirements once they reach or exceed $10,000 with respect to a given election at any time up to and including the 20th day before an election, and once they reach or exceed $1,000 with respect to a given election, and are made fewer than 20 days, but more than 24 hours, before an election. The totals listed include only the amounts that were reported to the Commission.

VI. Electioneering Communications

Electioneering communication filings totaling $15.1 million* were reported to the Commission in connection with activity in 2011-2012. An electioneering communication is a broadcast, cable or satellite communication that refers to a clearly identified federal candidate, is targeted to the relevant electorate, and is distributed 30 days prior to a primary election or 60 days prior to a general election. These communications do not expressly advocate the election or defeat of a federal candidate.

*This total does not include electioneering communications that were filed (or amended) in 2011 and 2012 but disclosed disbursements from different years.

The data summary table for electioneering communication filings submitted to the Commission through December 31, 2012 can be found here.