nearly 14
billion dollars that's how much all the
u.s election campaigns for 2020
are reported to have cost as well as
electing the president
voters chose hundreds of members of the
u.s congress
due to the coronavirus campaigning this
year looked a little different
but political engagement was high with
more money donated than ever
so what exactly is all that money spent
on and who
is paying for it 2020 smashed records
with an estimated 6.6 billion dollars
spent on presidential hopefuls alone
that's more than the last two
presidential elections combined
with traditional campaigning limited by
the pandemic even more money was
invested in media exposure
tv ads are big ticket items the trump
campaign reportedly spent
millions to run this 30 second
commercial during the super bowl back in
february
digital advertising is a growing
priority too both sides spent more than
200 million dollars targeting voters on
social media
and then there's staff salaries biden
spent more than 50 million dollars on
hundreds of employees
far more than the 20 million dollars
spent by trump and don't forget those
trump hats
according to 2020 filings his campaign
forked out more than 8 million
on them and other merchandise there's
also the battle for seats in the us
congress
hundreds of hopeful candidates competed
in races across the country which cost a
record
7 billion dollars in 2020. so
where is all this money coming from most
of it is made up of
campaign donations in 2020 around 20
percent of contributions came from
everyday americans
people giving 200 or less but a larger
chunk came from more wealthy donors
there's a limit of 2 800 on donations
given directly to the campaigns
but money can instead be donated in
other ways
candidates in their parties often form
joint fundraising committees for which
limits are looser
these committees have been reported to
host lavish dinners for wealthy donors
raising up to 10 million dollars in a
single night
on top of that since 2010 it's also been
possible for independent groups to raise
unlimited sums from companies and
individuals to finance political
activities
these groups known as super pacs aren't
allowed to coordinate directly with the
candidates
contributions from outside groups are
growing more than doubling in 2020 from
2016.
they also provided a much bigger boost
to biden than to trump
there are a few other rules around
campaign donations for example only
americans and permanent residents are
allowed to donate
but unlike in many other countries
there's no overall limit on how much can
be spent on political campaigns
and u.s elections are getting ever more
expensive the overall 2020 price tag is
more than
four times the amount spent in 2000.
so the world's most powerful job doesn't
come cheap
and this year was no exception with both
presidential candidates spending
big in their bids to win the white house
you