America is spending nearly $16 billion on this year’s election, while the total cost of the 2021 general election in neighboring Canada was only $69 million.
When Madeleine Bialke, an American artist, moved to London last year, she was shocked by the nature of elections in the UK during the summer. The entire campaign lasted only six weeks, with no advertisements interrupting the TV shows she watched. Once the election concluded, the victor assumed office the next day, unlike the lengthy transition period in the U.S.
“It was amazing to see such a short election period,” she said. “It made me realize just how crazy elections in the U.S. are.” Americans are accustomed to a nearly two-year presidential campaign, costing billions of dollars, with relentless ads saturating TV, radio, billboards, and even text messages.
This year’s U.S. election is projected to be the most expensive in history, with an estimated $15.9 billion spent on all federal races, surpassing the $15.1 billion of 2020, according to Open Secrets, a nonpartisan group tracking campaign spending. Adjusted for inflation, the 2024 election is slightly cheaper than 2020, but both cost nearly double the 2016 race and triple the early 2000s campaigns, even accounting for price increases.
American elections are vastly more expensive and drawn out than in other industrial democracies. In Canada, campaigns typically last 36-50 days, with the 2021 election costing $69 million, adjusted for current exchange rates. In the UK, all parties spent a total of $80 million in the 2019 election. Though figures for this year’s election have not been released, spending is expected to remain similar, with parties having raised $97 million in the first half of the year, not all of which was used for campaigns.
During the UK’s six-week campaign this year, fundraising amounts were remarkably modest. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Labour Party raised $12.3 million, while the Conservative Party, led by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, secured $2.5 million. By contrast, Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, raised $300 million in the first two weeks after replacing Joe Biden in the presidential race. Her total fundraising has since reached $1 billion, roughly $200 million more than former President Donald Trump has collected.
The fundraising record for any Canadian political party stands at $25.5 million, set by the Conservative Party in 2023, equivalent to what Vice President Harris raises in just two days. Even state-level races in the U.S. outspend national elections in other countries. In his 2020 Senate race, Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia spent $180.66 million, almost matching the combined campaign expenses of recent elections for prime minister in the UK, Germany, and Canada.
Many Americans are disillusioned by the excessive spending. Voters are tired of political discussions dominating their lives and being bombarded by nonstop advertisements. Although Americans disagree on numerous issues, over 80% believe major donors exert too much influence over both Democratic and Republican politicians, according to a Pew Research poll.
“It feels like our candidates are only focused on fundraising,” said Van Kong, a hotel security guard in New York City. “And it all drags on for too long.”
Campaigns are increasingly financed by a few ultra-wealthy individuals, including tech billionaire Elon Musk. In 2004, just 23 Americans donated more than $1 million each, totaling $58.9 million, according to Open Secrets. This year, 408 individuals have each given over $1 million, contributing a combined $2.3 billion.
Musk has made headlines by pledging to give $1 million a day to a randomly selected voter who signs a petition supporting free speech and gun rights, two key issues the Republican Party has emphasized during their campaigns.
According to Pew, around 72% of Americans favor limiting campaign spending, while only 11% disagree. The constant pursuit of money also burdens politicians, who may spend half their workweek fundraising, including making cold calls to strangers. "Our entire congressional schedule is arranged to make it easier for members to fundraise throughout the day," said Dean Phillips, a Democratic congressman from Minnesota who proposed a 2022 bill to restrict fundraising time for legislators.
So why are American elections so long and expensive?
One reason is the sheer scale. The U.S. is vast, and reaching voters in expensive media markets like New York is costly. Another reason is the primary elections. In parliamentary systems like those in Europe, political parties select their candidates internally. This was once the case in the U.S., where party leaders chose candidates at national conventions.
But this method was criticized for being undemocratic, and by the mid-1970s, primary elections became the main route to nomination, prompting candidates to heavily invest to win primaries.
"In parliamentary systems, years of service to the party can earn you a spot on the candidate list. In America, anyone can compete for a nomination, but it requires a lot of money," explained Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
A significant factor in election spending is the lack of restrictions. In the UK, parliamentary candidates can spend only about $25,000, while parties are capped at around $40 million, a limit rarely reached. In France, presidential candidates can spend up to 22.5 million euros ($25 million), half of which is government-funded, and corporate donations are banned. In 2020, Joe Biden spent 70 times more than French President Emmanuel Macron to win, even though the U.S. population is only five times larger.
For decades, U.S. campaign finance laws were similar to those in Europe. But American courts repeatedly ruled that spending limits could infringe on free speech rights. In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations and unions have the same free speech rights as individuals. They still cannot donate directly to candidates but can contribute to super PACs, which promote causes aligned with their candidates.
Open Secrets reports that super PAC spending skyrocketed from $847 million across a few hundred groups in 2012 to $5.7 billion from nearly 3,000 groups this year. Loopholes also let super PACs hide their funding sources. Future Forward USA, a leading Democratic super PAC, raised $394 million, with $136 million coming from a group that isn’t required to disclose donors.
Does this spending make a difference? A recent study found that losing a top donor reduces a congressional candidate’s vote share by 2.5 percentage points, enough to sway close races like this year’s.
In the 1890s, former Senator Mark Hanna, who managed President William McKinley’s campaign, famously said: “There are two important things in politics. The first is money, and I can’t remember the second.”
(According to WSJ, AFP, Reuters)
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