The ’10 midterm elections will cost at least $3.7B, according to new estimates from the Center for Responsive Politics.

Already this cycle, political parties spent $493M, while candidates running for federal office spent $305.5M, according to the Center’s studies. Outside groups will add millions more by the time election day rolls around.

Meanwhile, outside corporations have the ability to spend millions as well, following a SCOTUS decision that struck down earlier campaign finance law. The Center did not include estimates of corporate donations, as allowed by Citizens United v. FEC, in their report.

Already, candidates in 10 SEN races have raised more than $10M combined, according to reports filed with the FEC. Leading the pack is PA, where Sen. Arlen Specter is facing Rep. Joe Sestak (D) in the Dem primary. The winner will take on ex-Rep. Pat Toomey (R) in a general election.

Tags: Arlen Specter, Joe Sestak, Pat Toomey

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 1:44 pm and is filed under Front Page Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.