The skyrocketing cost of winning a seat in Congress

Successful House candidates spent twice as much in the 2012 elections than they did in 1986, according to updated figures released Tuesday by the Brookings Institution and the American Enterprise Institute. The increase is particularly striking, says Sarah Wheaton at The New York Times, when you take into account the fact that "most House races are not as competitive as they once were."

How expensive is it to win a seat in Congress? Here is a look at campaign costs, by the numbers:

$753,000

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Amount spent (in 2012 dollars), on average, in 1986 House elections

$1.6 million

Average amount winners spent in 2012

$1.3 million

Average spent by 256 incumbents among 2012 winners who won re-election in safe districts (where they won with 60 percent of the vote or more)

$156,000

Amount spent by their long-shot challengers, on average

$2.3 million

Average spending by 100 swing-state incumbents in 2012 who held onto their seats with less than 60 percent of the vote

$93,000

Amount spent by their challengers' campaigns, on average

$3.1 million

Average spending by the 32 House incumbents who lost their re-election bids in 2012

$2.5 million

Average spending by those ousted incumbents' victorious challengers

103

House members from "swing" districts in 1992 (defined as districts where the presidential race was within five percentage points of the national result)

35

House members from "swing" districts in 2012 (the most prominent reason for the change is post-Census redistricting, which governing parties have used to draw lines favoring their side)

$6.4 million

Amount spent by the average winning Senate candidate in 1986 (measured in 2012 dollars)

$10.4 million

Amount spent by Senate winners in 2012

$174 million

Additional spending by Democrat-aligned super PACs in the 2012 general election season. These organizations are providing a growing infusion of outside money into key races, especially in swing states

$295 million

Spending by Republican-aligned super PACs in the 2012 general election season

$6.3 million

Spending by all other super PACs in the same period

$111 million

Additional spending by Democratic party committees in 2012

$137 million

Spending by Republican party committees

$546.5 million

Total spending by 266 super PACs in 2012

80

Percentage of that money spent to oppose candidates

$290.9 million

Amount spent to oppose President Obama in 2012

$94 million

Amount spent to oppose Mitt Romney, Obama's Republican challenger

Sources: Brookings Institution, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Outside the Beltway, Sunlight Foundation