Candidates, parties, political action committees and other outside groups spent more than $7 billion on the 2012 election, according to a final tally by the Federal Election Commission. That’s the most ever spent on U.S. elections, and surpasses the $5.3 billion...
Read more »
Photograph by Scott Eisen/Bloomberg
Students celebrate after U.S. President Barack Obama was projected the winner of the presidential election inside the Kennedy Forum at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Nov. 6, 2012.
FEC: 2012 Campaign Cost $7 Billion
Photograph by Peter Foley/Bloomberg
Images of President Barack Obama, left, and Republican Mitt Romney are seen on a monitor while a trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Nov. 7, 2012.
Bloomberg by the Numbers: $7 Billion
That’s about how much was spent on the 2012 election, according to an estimate from the Federal Election Commission. Candidates spent about $3.2 billion, compared with $2 billion spent by the political parties and $2.1 billion by outside political committees,...
Read more »
Photograph by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Image
A worker removes the plastic from a mirror on the floor ahead of the Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on August 26, 2012.
Money in Politics: Plumbing’s not the Problem, It’s the Quality of the Water
“Here’s the problem with money in politics,” says Mike Murphy, a seasoned and semi-retired Republican TV ad strategist: It’s the content. “I’m less worried about the plumbing than I am the quality of the water,” Murphy said today in Tampa,...
Read more »
Photograph by Bill Clark/Roll Call/Getty Images
Sen. Dean Heller, left, speaks with attendees of the 2011 Conservative Leadership Conference at the M Resort Spa Casino in Las Vegas.
Republicans Press IRS: Don’t Relent
Updated at 5:20 pm EDT: Crossroads GPS, the nonprofit group co-founded by Karl Rove, has spent $472,496 to help Senator Dean Heller of Nevada win re-election. 60 Plus Association, which favors privatizing Social Security, announced it would spend $2.1 million...
Read more »
Photograph by Luke Sharrett/The New York Times via Redux
A campaign stop by President Barack Obama at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., on Aug. 2, 2012.
In the Biggest Money — for Obama: Good News, Bad News
There is good news and bad news for the president in the numbers. President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign fundraising is the second most successful machine ever. The first: Obama’s 2008 machinery. The president also has spent much of his re-election...
Read more »
Contributors
-
Al Hunt
is a columnist for Bloomberg View and host of the weekly show "Political Capital with Al Hunt" on Bloomberg TV. -
Mark Silva
is deputy managing editor for government news in Washington and editor of Political Capital. He has covered the White House and national politics. -
Emma Fidel
is political editor for Bloomberg.com in Washington. She previously covered financial regulation as a Bloomberg intern. -
Don Frederick
edits political and government coverage for Bloomberg News. He previously worked for more than a decade at the Los Angeles Times' Washington bureau. -
Gregory Giroux
analyzes elections, financing of congressional and presidential elections, political advertising and demographics in Bloomberg's Washington Bureau. -
Julie Bykowicz
covers the influence of money and lobbying in Washington, and covered the state legislature and city crime for the Baltimore Sun for 10 years. -
Jonathan Salant
covers campaign finance and lobbying in Washington. He was president of the National Press Club and started in Washington in 1987. -
Richard Rubin
covers federal tax policy. He worked at Congressional Quarterly and The Charlotte Observer before joining Bloomberg News in 2010. -
Julie Hirschfeld Davis
is a senior political reporter for the Washington Bureau. She covered the 2012 campaign for Bloomberg News and previously covered the White House for the Baltimore Sun. -
Lisa Lerer
covers the White House and covered the 2012 campaign for Bloomberg News. She covered Congress, lobbying and the 2008 campaign for Politico. -
John McCormick
is a national political reporter looking forward to the 2016 presidential campaign, which will be the fifth he's covered. He's also reported for The Des Moines Register and Chicago Tribune. -
Julianna Goldman
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Television. -
Hans Nichols
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Television. -
Margaret Talev
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and covered the White House for McClatchy Newspapers. She has covered California and Florida politics. -
Cary O'Reilly
is Editor at Large at Bloomberg First Word and is Washington Daybook columnist for Bloomberg Government and Bloomberg News.
