The first $5.3 billion election

The 2008 federal elections are expected to cost $5.3 billion--and that's a conservative estimate, according to a new analysis released this morning by the Center for Responsive Politics (opensecrets.org), a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that tracks campaign contributions.

The estimate includes fundraising by all candidates running for federal office, political committees, and federally focused 527 committees. It also includes independent expenditures on advertising and get-out-the-vote efforts by outside political action committees, as well as public funding for presidential candidates and money raised by the host committees for the national party conventions.

Major finding from the Center include:

• The biggest chunk of this year's fundraising,$2.4 billion, is for the presidential race. This year's race marks the first time candidates have collected more than $1 billion, and the candidates are on track to nearly double the raised in 2004 and triple the amount collected in 2000. 
• Despite the financial crisis, Wall Street firms dominate the top donor list. The top corporate donor in 2008 is Goldman Sachs. The global investment bank's employees and PAC have contributed at least $5 million to the '08 campaign. Citigroup is next at $4.2 million, followed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. at $4.1 million. The biggest-giving industry association is the National Association of Realtors, which has given nearly $3.2 million.
• Incumbents running for re-election continue to have a huge advantage. The average Senate incumbent has raised $8.3 million (which includes money raised since the start of the six-year term in 2003). to the average challenger's $850,000, an advantage of nearly 10 to 1. The incumbent's advantage in the House is also lop-sided. Members of the House have raised approximately $1.2 million through the 3rd Quarter of this year, on average, while their opponents have raised an average of $286,000 -- a 4 to 1 edge for the seat-holder.
  
• The Center has identified more than 1 million individuals who have made a contribution of more than $200 to federal candidates, parties and PACs, close to the 1.1 million individuals who showed up in FEC records in 2004. The total for 2008 (and for 2004, for that matter) is far higher, however, as only contributors giving more than $200 must be disclosed by name to the FEC. In 2008, the number of itemized individuals still represents less than one-half of one percent of all adult Americans. Analysts have estimated that, historically, no more than 4 percent of Americans make a contribution of any size to federal politics. By comparison, about 10 percent of American taxpayers elect to dedicate $3 of their annual tax bill to the presidential public financing system.

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