North Carolina's Senate race just broke the record for the most outside spending ever

North Carolina's Senate race just broke the record for the most outside spending ever
(Image credit: Facebook/Kay Hagan for Senate)

The close North Carolina Senate race between incumbent Kay Hagan (D) and Thom Tillis (R) has attracted a flood of spending from groups outside the state. And this week, with an ad purchase from the Koch-backed Freedom Partners Action Fund, it broke the record for the most outside spending in a Senate race ever, according to OpenSecrets.org.

A mind-blowing $55.7 million in outside money has been spent on the race, surpassing the $52.4 million that flowed into the 2012 Senate contest in Virginia between Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican George Allen. It's not only the Kochs; Hagan has been receiving plenty of help from super PACS aligned with the Democratic Party.

Indeed, "outside groups have spent more money ($17.6 million) attacking [Tillis] this cycle than any other candidate," says OpenSecrets.org.

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Hagan has a 77 percent chance of winning the race, according to FiveThirtyEight's election forecaster.

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Ryu Spaeth is deputy editor at TheWeek.com. Follow him on Twitter.