File — The words they use
Money words, in plain English
Every term this site uses, explained the way you would explain it to someone who has never read a campaign finance filing — and, where we can, what it adds up to right now.
Dark money
Political spending where the donors are never named. The money goes through nonprofit groups that can spend on elections without saying who gave it.
We do not put a number on this one. Our records show what was spent, but not which of it came from donors who were never named — so any figure here would be a guess.
Outside spending
Money spent to help or hurt a candidate by a group the candidate does not control. It never touches the candidate's own bank account.
It has a direction, and people forget the second half. Some of it is spent to get someone elected, and some is spent to get them beaten.
On this site$129Mspent by outside groups in the 2026 cycle →Spent against
Outside money used to attack a candidate rather than support one. It counts as spending on that race, but it is trying to make you vote the other way.
On this site28%of that outside money was spent AGAINST a candidate, not for one — $36M →Super PAC
A group that can raise and spend unlimited money to support or attack candidates, as long as it does not give the money to a campaign or work with one directly.
The limit is on closeness, not size. It may raise as much as it likes, but it may not hand the money to a campaign or plan with one. A regular PAC can give straight to a campaign, but only a limited amount.
PAC
A political action committee. A group — often run by a company, union or trade body — that collects money from people and gives it to campaigns.
On this site$61Mgiven to campaigns by PACs this cycle →Receipts
Everything a campaign has taken in. Donations from people, money from PACs, party money and the candidate's own money, added together.
On this site$2.8Braised by everyone running in 2026 →From individuals
The share of a campaign's money that came from people rather than from PACs, parties, or the candidate themselves.
On this site60%of that came from people, not PACs or parties →Cash on hand
What a campaign has left in the bank. Money raised is everything that came in; this is the part not yet spent.
On this site$1.3Bstill in the bank across all campaigns →Disbursements
What a campaign spent. Adverts, staff, travel, polling, rent — everything paid out.
Self-funding
A candidate paying for their own campaign. There is no limit on how much of their own money a candidate may spend.
Bundler
Someone who collects donations from lots of other people and hands them over together. Each gift stays under the legal limit, but arriving as one stack makes that person worth far more to a campaign than any single donor.
501(c)(4)
A type of nonprofit, named after the tax rule that creates it. It is supposed to exist for social welfare, and it may spend on elections without naming its donors. This is the usual route for dark money.
LDA filing
The form a company files four times a year saying how much it spent lobbying Congress and the government, and on which issues. Required by the Lobbying Disclosure Act.
The figure is what the company spent on lobbying in total for that quarter. It is never what was spent on one particular bill.
On this site$6.8Bspent on lobbying by 21,713 companies →Incumbent
The person who currently holds the seat and is running to keep it.
On this site468sitting members are running again, of 2,772 candidates →Open seat
A seat with nobody defending it, because the current officeholder is retiring, running for something else, or has left.
On this site15seats have nobody defending them →Election cycle
The two-year period the Federal Election Commission counts money in. It runs from just after one election to the next, so a figure for this cycle is a running total, not a final one.
On this site2026is the cycle every figure on this site counts →