Anti-incumbent fever: By the numbers

Need more proof of dissatisfaction with incumbents and the status quo in Washington? A record-breaking number of congressional challengers have entered this year's midterm election. With much of the anger coming from voters on the Right, "the field is heavily Republican, with almost twice as many GOP candidates as Democrats," reports the Associated Press. (Candidacy registration still open in many states, so the numbers could rise even higher.) Some key stats on this increasingly bloated contest:

471

Total number of congressional seats up for grabs in November

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

2,341

Number of people who've filed statements of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission so far this year

2,159

Number of candidates in the 1992 election — the next largest field, historically — when Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Ross Perot battled for the White House

1,717

Number of candidates in the 2008 election

1,588

Number of candidates in the 2006 midterms election

$5,000

Minimum amount a candidate must raise or spend on his/her campaign before the FEC requires official registration

1975

Year the FEC began tracking congressional candidates

14

Number of Republican women running for the Senate this year, a record-high

3

Number of Republican women who ran for the Senate in 2008

94

Number of Republican women running for the House of Representatives this year (up from 46 in 2008)

40

Number of seats Republicans must win to regain control of the House of Representatives

10

Number of seats the GOP must collect to take back control of the Senate

22

Percentage of voters who say they are "angry" about how things are going in Washington, according to a recent CBS poll

36 percent

Approval rating of congressional Republicans, according to the latest USA Today/Gallup poll

43 percent

Approval rating for Democrats

49

Percentage of voters who prefer Republican candidates, compared to 43 percent for Democrats, according to a recent Gallup poll