Financial activity by candidates and parties

The Commission has compiled fundraising statistics for national party committees and congressional candidate committees for the period from January 1, 2005, through October 18, 2006.

National party committees

The national committees of the two major political parties raised $768 million between January 1, 2005, and October 18, 2006. Republican committees raised $435.4 million, while the Democratic committees raised $332.7 million. During this period, the parties reported spending a total of $709.5 million. The Republican committees had $49.1 million in cash on hand remaining on October 18, 2006, while the Democratic committees had $31.5 million available on that date (see the graph below).

The 2006 election cycle is the second election cycle since the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) prohibited national parties from receiving “soft money.” The national committee, senatorial campaign committee, and congressional campaign committee of each party are each considered to be a national party.

As of October 29, 2006, independent expenditures by the national committees in the 2006 election cycle had increased by 54 percent over the 2004 campaign to $177.3 million. Each party made the majority of the expenditures in opposition to the other party’s candidate, rather than in support of their own candidate.

Direct contributions from individuals continue to be the primary source of funds for national party committees, with 82 percent of Republican committees’ funds coming from individual contributions while Democrats raised 76 percent directly from individuals.

The four congressional campaign committees have all seen growth in contributions from the campaign committees of their members. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the National Republican Campaign Committee each received about $27.4 million from their candidates, while the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee reported $10.2 million from members and the National Republican Senatorial Committee received $4 million.

Congressional campaigns

From January 1, 2005, to October 18, 2006, Congressional campaigns raised a total of $1.14 billion and spent $965.7 million, an increase of 30 percent in receipts and 36 percent in disbursements over the comparable period in 2004.

Senate candidates in the 2006 general election raised $457.4 million and spent $401.5 million from January 1, 2005 through October 18, 2006, representing increases of 39 percent in receipts and 44 percent in spending. Comparisons across election cycles are difficult for Senate races as the states involve vary and a few campaigns can significantly affect totals.

House candidates’ general election fundraising increased 25 percent over 2004 levels to a total of $678.6 million. Spending also increased by 30 percent to $546.2 million. Both parties experienced growth in financial activity, but increases were concentrated between Republican incumbents and Democratic challengers and open seat candidates.

Contributions from individuals continue to be the largest source of receipts for Congressional candidates, with $689.8 million over the two-year period (see the graph below). This was 61 percent of all fundraising as of October 18, 2006. PACs contributed an additional $316.8 million or 28 percent while candidates themselves contributed or loaned a total of $86.8 million, or 8 percent of all receipts. When compared with 2004, contributions by individuals grew by 25 percent, PAC contributions increased by 26 percent, and candidate loans and contributions nearly tripled.

Additional information

More information on campaign finance statistics for the 2005-2006 election cycle is available in press releases dated October 30, 2006 (party committees) and November 2, 2006 (candidate committees). The releases are available on the FEC website or by calling the FEC’s Public Disclosure and Press offices at 800/424-9530.