six and a half billion dollars
that's how much the u.s election
campaign in 2016 is thought to have cost
due to coronavirus this year's cycle
looks a little different
but huge sums of money are still being
racked up ahead of the election
so what exactly is all that money spent
on and who is paying for it
on average over the last five elections
more than two billion dollars was spent
by presidential hopefuls
more than half of this usually goes
towards media exposure
tv ads are big ticket items the trump
campaign reportedly spent
millions to run this commercial during
the super bowl in february
and digital advertising is a growing
priority too
as candidates invest tens of millions
into targeting voters on social media
then their staff salaries hillary
clinton paid almost 85 million dollars
on thousands of employees in 2016.
campaigning itself is costly too trump
and clinton spent an estimated 45
million dollars each
touring the country in 2016. though
travel expenses are likely down this
year due to the pandemic
and don't forget election merchandise
those trump hats
according to 2016 filings he forked out
more than three million dollars on them
as well as electing the president
american voters will also be choosing
members of the u.s congress
hundreds of candidates compete across
the country in campaigns which totaled
4 billion on average over recent
election cycles
so where is all this money coming from
most of it is made up of campaign
donations
around a third of individual donor
contributions in 2016
came from everyday americans people
giving 200
or less but a larger chunk comes from
more wealthy donors
a group of fewer than 200 people spent
almost 1 billion dollars across all
races in the 2016 election alone
on top of that presidential candidates
and their parties often form
joint fundraising committees which can
generate huge donations
these committees have been reported to
host lavish dinners for wealthy donors
raising up to 10 million dollars in a
single night
there are a few rules around campaign
donations for example
only americans are allowed to donate
there is also a limit of 2
800 on individual donations that can be
given directly to candidates
but money can be donated instead to
their party's fundraising pot
for which limits are looser since 2010
it's also possible for independent
groups to raise unlimited sums from
companies and individuals to finance
political activities although these
groups known as super pacs
aren't allowed to coordinate directly
with the candidates
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 2016 election price tag was double
the amount spent in 2000
so the world's most powerful job doesn't
come cheap
and this year is no exception with both
presidential candidates spending big
in their bids to win the white house