The 2006 U.S. congressional midterm elections are set to be the most expensive in history, with total spending projected to reach roughly 2.6 billion dollars, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan organization that monitors the role of money in American politics.
That figure represents an 18 percent jump compared with the 2002 midterm cycle, and the center's acting executive director, Sheila Krumholz, cautioned that the estimate is conservative and could climb further before voting day on 7 November.
House candidates still actively competing have raised an average of about 760,000 dollars, while Senate candidates have pulled in an average of 5.8 million dollars since 2001. Incumbent senators hold roughly a four-to-one fundraising edge over challengers; House incumbents lead their opponents by about seven to one.
The largest donor categories, in order of contribution size, are lawyers and law firms, the real estate sector, Wall Street, and people who identify themselves as retired. Business interests as a whole account for approximately three-quarters of all contributions.
For context, the 2004 election cycle cost 4.2 billion dollars total, though that sum included presidential race spending tied to the contest between George W. Bush and John Kerry.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in October 2006, in its own words.