A CNBC analysis of Federal Election Commission records found that the biggest donors to the 2026 midterm elections are leaning decisively toward Republican candidates and their causes.
A CNBC analysis of federal campaign finance records shows that 14 of the 20 largest donors and donor organizations this election cycle are exclusively or nearly exclusively supporting Republican candidates or aligned groups. Together, the 20 funds represent $1.2 billion, or about one-eighth of the roughly $9.8 billion raised this election cycle through Sept. 25 across campaigns and super PACs tracked by CNBC.
CNBC analyzed FEC records of donations reported during the 2026 election cycle, covering January 1, 2025, through the most recent filings available, combining spouses and closely related donor organizations where appropriate, and removing duplicate or superseded transactions. An analysis of published federal political committee donations provides the latest snapshot of who is funding the 2026 midterm elections, showing stark disparities in where the biggest donors are putting their money.
Democratic Party megadonors, on the other hand, are increasingly bypassing the KMT, and are instead giving directly to candidates in some cases.
With less than four weeks until Election Day, some of the six-figure checks that once flowed regularly to the Democratic National Committee have not materialized. Fundraisers told CNBC that the hesitation reflects the lingering “trauma” of the 2024 election, including Kamala Harris’ loss, fear of democratic socialism and disillusionment with Democratic National Committee leadership in Washington.
“We don’t have those donors,” said Matt Bennett of Third Way, a centrist Democratic think tank. “The advantage Republicans have is huge, and no matter how passionate we are with our donors, it’s not going to close.”
Republicans are scrambling to protect their congressional majorities as races in the House and Senate, once considered safe for Republicans, intensify. From Labor Day to Sept. 25, conservative super PACs outspent their Democratic counterparts by $310 million to $174 million, a nearly 2-to-1 ratio, according to a CNBC analysis of FEC records.
“No one agrees 100 percent on the issues, but we’ve been doing very well at raising money,” said Eric Levin, a Republican fundraiser and founder and managing member of ERL Federal Consultants. “My understanding is that a lot of this money will go to candidates who may be having a little bit of trouble raising money on their own. One name that comes to mind is (Ken) Paxton from Texas.”
With less than six weeks until Election Day, the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter says 15 House races have shifted to Democrats, putting Republicans on track to lose the House majority. The race for control of the Senate is a close one, but there are some moves leaning toward Democrats. Mr. Cook now holds a “true toss-up” that will determine interest rates, with Democrats needing four seats.
Democrats are “starting to see this real opportunity in a series of races,” said Caroline Wells, who heads The First Ask, a PAC supporting Democratic women after serving at the Democratic National Committee from 2017 to 2022.
Mega donor funding shifts to the right
Republican funding is coming from Wall Street financial capitalists and industrial titans, along with a new wave of crypto, artificial intelligence and online gambling executives. Money is flowing to candidates, super PACs and industry groups looking to shape policy battles in Washington.
Of the top 20 groups across CNBC, nine of the 10 largest individual and family donors are Republicans, accounting for 86 cents of every dollar donated by the top 10, according to a CNBC analysis of FEC records. The previously unreported findings represent a significant increase from the comparable point in the 2022 midterm elections, when Republican-backed donors accounted for 67 cents of every dollar in the top 10.
“Populist sentiment against billionaires is at its peak, and they have more money and influence than ever before,” said Saurav Ghosh, director of federal campaign finance reform at the Election Legal Center. “Evidence shows this is the result of unchecked, free spending that could destabilize a close race.” The group is a nonpartisan nonprofit founded by a former Republican FEC chairman.
CNBC’s analysis shows that seven of the 20 largest donors and donor groups have significant ties to the crypto, AI, or online gambling industries. According to CNBC’s calculations, the companies have collectively given about $377.1 million this cycle, representing nearly a third of the money from the 20 largest donors and donor organizations in CNBC’s analysis.
Venture capitalists Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, and their firm Andreessen Horowitz spent about $91.3 million on politics this quarter. OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman and his wife Anna donated $50 million, and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss contributed about $55.1 million. Crypto.com operator Foris Dax Inc. donated $38.6 million. tesla and space x Elon Musk, CEO of companies such as xAI, is also among the top 20 donors.
Those four donor groups alone have contributed about $93 million to President Donald Trump’s flagship super PAC, MAGA, Inc., which entered September with $415.8 million in cash, spending little of the $424.4 million it reported raising since January 1, 2025. Two pro-Trump groups launched in September, No Going Back PAC and Safety & Affordability PAC, have racked up about $140 million in ad buys and reservations for the House and Senate. According to AdImpact.
Mr. Musk has donated about $90.6 million this cycle, including more than $50 million to America PAC, according to CNBC calculations based on FEC filings. His super PAC has since reported about $27 million in independent spending in House and Senate races in the 2026 general election, according to a CNBC analysis of FEC filings.
Companies are also directing millions of people to political groups focused on fights that affect their industries.
Coinbase and Ripple have contributed approximately $33.2 million and $48 million, respectively, to the crypto super PAC Fairshake, which supports candidates from both parties that the industry considers allies. This represents more than half of Coinbase’s political spending and 96% of Ripple’s political spending this election. DraftKings similarly directed about $34 million of the roughly $35 million it spent in this election to Win for America, a sports betting industry super PAC, according to FEC filings.
“Cryptocurrencies want to position themselves as kings of politics, and they want to spend huge sums of money to make it known to legislators,” said Dustin Duong, a researcher at Americans for Financial Reform, who has analyzed political spending on cryptocurrencies and AI this election cycle. “But much of that money went to candidates who were already well-positioned to win.”
Cryptocurrency companies are seeking market structure rules in Congress, AI companies are fighting over how Washington will regulate the rapidly expanding industry, and sports betting operators are facing regulatory battles.
Divide democracy
Some of the Democratic Party’s biggest supporters are disappearing from the DNC’s donor list as Republican donors open their wallets.
George Soros and his son Alex, the only Democratic donors among the top 10 individual and family donors in CNBC’s analysis, have given nothing to the DNC this election cycle. That would be a reversal from 2022, when the two contributed more than $1 million to the commission, according to FEC filings. The two gave a combined $1.125 million to the DNC and its Joint Chest Committee in 2022, a total that would have ranked them No. 1 among DNC donors in a CNBC analysis.
Others include Dustin Moskowitz, Facebook; Asana The co-founders donated approximately $413,000 to the DNC during the 2024 cycle, $50 million to Future Forward, and $929,600 to the Harris Victory Fund. CNBC did not discover Moskowitz’s contributions to the DNC.
“Donors, like voters, want to feel energy and enthusiasm, and they’re getting it this season from candidates, not from major groups or party structures,” said Wells of The First Ask.
The DNC ended August with $16.9 million in cash and $17.6 million in debt, while the RNC had $125.6 million and no debt, according to FEC filings. DNC officials told CNBC that the difference reflects faster spending since leaving office, noting that the party is $85 million ahead in fundraising than at the same point in 2018, the last midterm election, when Republicans controlled the White House and both houses of Congress. Adjusted for inflation, total political spending in 2018 was $7.1 billion, according to OpenSecret, a nonpartisan nonprofit that tracks such spending. AdImpact predicts that political spending in the 2026 election will set a record, surpassing even the presidential era.
The DNC also announced that 79 donors have given at least $100,000, up from 50 at this time in 2018. But the tally does not show how much each donor gave above that threshold.
Sources involved in Democratic fundraising told CNBC that some major donors remain wary even after Harris loses the presidency in 2024. Her campaign and its allies raised more than $1 billion in less than three months, but ultimately lost the White House and ended the year with nearly $1 million in back pay.
Some donors returned home questioning spending decisions, especially on expensive consultants and lavish events.
“A lot of people feel like they spent a lot of money and got nothing back in 2024. They’re not happy,” said Steve Scheer, a longtime Democratic strategist who led the pro-Biden super PAC Unite the Country. “There is a lack of accounting for how much money will be raised and spent in 2024, and there is still something of a hangover from that.”
Other donors are worried about the growing influence of the party’s left, from democratic socialists like New York Mayor Zoran Mamdani to progressives like Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
“I did have a donor who said to me, ‘Give me five people you know who aren’t DSA people and I’ll write you a check,'” Scheer told CNBC.
change spending habits
Other Democratic megadonors cut out the middleman and simply choose individual races and candidates to support.
Billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has contributed $11 million to a super PAC supporting Micah Lasher in New York’s 12th Congressional District and $2.5 million to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s re-election bid, according to federal and Pennsylvania campaign finance records.
Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, took a similar approach. The longtime Democratic donor has given nothing to the DNC, but he has given $11.5 million to Lone Star Rising, a super PAC supporting Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico. One $10 million check from Hoffman accounted for nearly 80% of the group’s second-quarter funding.
Mr. Talarico, a Democratic darling, has become a major fundraiser himself, raising $68.6 million through June 30 and having $21.5 million in cash at the end of the quarter, according to FEC filings.
He is never alone. The FEC currently lists Democrats Jon Ossoff, Talarico and Sherrod Brown as the three highest-achieving Senate candidates this cycle. Democrats in seven key Senate races took in $74.7 million in cash in July, more than double Republicans’ $36.8 million, according to a CNBC analysis of FEC filings through June 30.
This pattern extends to houses as well. A study of races that the Cook Report rated as “boosting” or “lean Republican” found that Democratic challengers outperformed Republican incumbents in 14 of 17 races in the second quarter.
