By admin 
The 2024 US elections, which went to the polls on Tuesday, will be the most expensive in history, with a total contribution of $15.9 billion.
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (left) in Philadelphia and former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Michigan on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
Spending, including congressional races, will surpass the $15.1 billion spent in 2020 and more than double the $6.5 billion spent in 2016, according to the nonprofit OpenSecrets.
In the hotly contested presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris has emerged as a fundraising leader.
Her campaign immediately raised more than $1 billion, 40 percent of which came from small donors, plus another $586 million from supporting political action committees.
Donald TrumpThe organization’s campaign directly raised $382 million, 28 percent of which came from small donors, while affiliate committees contributed $694 million.
The biggest donor was Timothy Mellon, the reclusive 82-year-old heir to the banking industry, who contributed $197 million to Trump and Republican causes.
Other major Republican supporters included the packaging industry’s Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, casino magnate Miriam Adelson, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, and hedge fund investor Kenneth Griffin — each of whom contributed more than $100 million to Trump and Republican causes.
On the Democratic side, Michael Bloomberg has emerged as the top donor, contributing about $93 million (initially $43 million, plus a reported $50 million more).
George Soros provided $56 million through his political action committee.
A total of $10.5 billion has been spent on campaign ads for races from president to local officials, according to data collected by the ad tracking company AdImpact.
The Harris and Trump presidential campaigns spent $2.6 billion on ads from March through November 1. Democrats spent $1.6 billion, while Republicans invested $993 million.
Themes highlighted in Harris ads include taxes, abortion rights, the economy and health care. Trump ads have mainly highlighted immigration, inflation, crime, taxes and the economy.
Pennsylvania led the swing state spending for the presidential election with $264 million, followed by Michigan with $151 million and Georgia with $137 million.
Overall, Pennsylvania saw an eye-popping $1.2 billion on all races, all the way down to local officials, in the cycle.
Despite the shift to online entertainment, digital platforms received $419 million in presidential ads, which represented just 17 percent of total spending.
On metaplatforms Facebook and Instagram, Democrats outspent Republicans $132.4 million to $24.7 million, while on