A record $5.2 billion will have been spent on this year’s elections — as the most voters in a midterm in nearly 50 years flooded the polls, according to projections Tuesday.
No campaign spending for a midterm has ever exceeded $4.2 billion after adjusting for inflation — yet the latest reporting period, in mid-October, showed that candidates, political parties, PACs and nonprofits had already torn through $4.7 billion, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, which predicted the eventual $5 billion-plus figure.
“The significance of this election is clear. But whether it’s a blue wave or a red wave, one thing is certain: a wave of money [moved] toward Election Day, much of it coming from the wealthiest donors targeting this year’s most competitive races,” said Sheila Krumholz, the CRP’s director.
Voters in hotly contested districts, inundated by campaign pamphlets and robocalls, said they couldn’t wait for Tuesday to be over.
“It’s ridiculous,” Wendy Burke said outside a shopping center in Palmdale, Calif. “I’ve had to block my calls.”
The dramatic increase in spending was driven by a surge in Democratic fundraising, with women playing a huge role. Women donated $308 million to Democrats, compared to $90 million to Republicans.
Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, were the largest donors in 2018, giving about $113 million to Republicans.
Philanthropist Tom Steyer and his wife, Kat Taylor, came in second, giving Democrats $51 million.
The most expensive race in the nation was for a Florida Senate seat in which $160 million was spent either directly by or by supporters of Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and outgoing Gov. Rick Scott, his GOP challenger.
The most expensive House race was in the district just north of Los Angeles, where Democrats battled for a seat held by Republicans since 1992.
Meanwhile, voter turnout was on track to obliterate the 36.7 percent figure from the 2014 midterms in 2014. The 45 percent turnout expected this year would be the highest since the 47 percent in 1970, said University of Florida professor Michael McDonald.
The highest turnout ever recorded for a midterm is 49 percent, in 1966.
By midday, a staggering 39 million people had already been recorded casting early ballots, swamping the 27.2 million people who voted similarly four years ago, McDonald said.
New York state does not have early voting, but the number of voters who requested an absentee ballot nearly doubled from four years ago, from 210,607 to 412,643. The number of ballots in Manhattan alone quadrupled and was three times higher in Brooklyn.
Driving the turnout was the electorate’s feelings about President Trump, according to CNN exit polls.
Two-thirds of voters said this midterm is a referendum on Trump — with a majority saying they were opposed to him.
One in six voters said it was their first time voting in a midterm.
Voting was so heavy in some polling places that election officials were caught flat-footed without enough ballots early Tuesday.
“They ran out of ballots at the Springdale Community Church” in Lousville, Ky., tweeted Katie Cummins.
“Some people left and didn’t cast a vote because they were frustrated. The officials said they normally have 400 people by this time and today they had 1,100. More ballots on the way.”
McDonald tweeted, “Election officials should have known turnout would be high!”
But there was one place that officials made sure its residents could vote — the International Space Station.
Astronauts can request special absentee ballots about six months in advance, then send their votes electronically to be recorded, NASA said.
With Wires
