Republican megadonors dominate 2026 midterm election as crypto and AI money surges, CNBC analysis finds

retained text

The biggest donors in the 2026 midterm election are breaking decisively toward Republican candidates and causes, a CNBC analysis of Federal Election Commission records found.
Fourteen of the 20 largest donors and donor groups this election cycle have exclusively or nearly exclusively backed GOP candidates or aligned groups, according to a CNBC analysis of federal campaign-finance records. Together, the 20 account for $1.2 billion, or about an eighth of the roughly $9.8 billion raised this election cycle through Sept. 25 across the campaigns and super PACs CNBC examined.
CNBC analyzed FEC records for contributions reported during the 2026 election cycle, covering Jan. 1, 2025, through the latest filings available, combining spouses and closely affiliated donor entities where appropriate and removing duplicate or superseded transactions. The analysis of disclosed federal political committee contributions provides the most up-to-date snapshot of who is financing the 2026 midterms and shows a stark divide in where the biggest donors are putting their money.
Democratic megadonors, meanwhile, are increasingly bypassing the national party, though in some cases they're giving directly to candidates instead.
With less than four weeks until Election Day, some of the biggest six-figure checks that once routinely flowed to the Democratic National Committee haven't materialized. Fundraisers told CNBC the hesitation reflects lingering 2024 election "trauma" from Kamala Harris' defeat, fears of democratic socialism and disillusionment with the DNC's leadership in Washington.
"We don't have the kind of donors they've got," said Matt Bennett of the centrist Democratic think tank Third Way. "The advantages that the Republicans have are enormous, and no amount of donor enthusiasm on our side is going to close that gap."
The Republican Party is scrambling to defend its congressional majorities as more House and Senate races once considered safe for the GOP have become competitive. From Labor Day through Sept. 25, conservative super PACs have outspent their Democratic counterparts $310 million to $174 million, a magnitude approaching 2 to 1, according to CNBC's analysis of FEC records.
"No one ever agrees with anyone on 100% of the issues, but we are doing really well fundraising," said Republican fundraiser Eric Levine, founder and managing member of ERL Federal Consultants. "My understanding is that a lot of this money is going to candidates that may have a little trouble raising their own money. One name that comes to mind is [Ken] Paxton in Texas."
Less than six weeks before Election Day, the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter shifted 15 House races toward Democrats and said the GOP was on track to lose its House majority. The race for control of the Senate is closer but has also moved toward Democrats: Cook now rates control a "true Toss Up," with Democrats needing four seats.
Democrats "are starting to see this real opportunity in a bunch of these races," said Caroline Welles, who leads The First Ask, a PAC supporting Democratic women, after working at the DNC from 2017 through 2022.
Megadonor money shifts right
Republican money is coming from Wall Street financiers and industrial titans alongside a new wave of cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence and online gambling executives. The cash is flowing to candidates, super PACs and industry groups aiming to shape policy fights in Washington.
Nine of the 10 largest individual and family donors in CNBC’s overall top 20 groups are Republican-aligned, accounting for 86 cents of every dollar contributed by the top 10, according to CNBC's analysis of FEC records. The previously unreported finding is a sharp increase from a comparable point in the 2022 midterms, when Republican-aligned donors accounted for 67 cents of every dollar from the top 10.
"Populist sentiment against billionaires is at a fever pitch, but they have more money and more impact than ever before," said Saurav Ghosh, the Campaign Legal Center's director of federal campaign finance reform. "It's the result of unchecked free-for-all spending, and evidence has shown it can swing close races." The group is a nonpartisan nonprofit founded by a former Republican FEC chairman.
Seven of the 20 largest donors and donor groups in CNBC's analysis have major ties to the crypto, AI or online gambling industries. Together, they have contributed roughly $377.1 million this cycle, CNBC calculated — nearly a third of the money from the 20 largest donors and donor groups in CNBC's analysis.
Venture capitalists Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz and their firm Andreessen Horowitz have put roughly $91.3 million into politics this cycle. OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman and his wife, Anna, have given $50 million, while Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have contributed roughly $55.1 million. Crypto.com operator Foris Dax Inc. has given $38.6 million. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, whose businesses include xAI, is another top 20 donor.
Those four donor groups alone have contributed roughly $93 million to President Donald Trump's flagship super PAC, MAGA Inc., which entered September with $415.8 million in cash after spending little of the $424.4 million it reported raising since Jan. 1, 2025. Two Trump-aligned groups launched in September, No Going Back PAC and Safety & Affordability PAC, have booked about $140 million in House and Senate ad buys and reservations, according to AdImpact.
Musk has contributed roughly $90.6 million during this cycle, including more than $50 million to his America PAC, according to CNBC's calculations based on FEC filings. His super PAC has since reported nearly $27 million in independent expenditures across House and Senate races in the 2026 general election, according to CNBC's analysis of FEC filings.
Companies are also directing millions into political groups focused on fights affecting their own industries.
Coinbase and Ripple have contributed roughly $33.2 million and $48 million, respectively, to crypto super PAC Fairshake, which supports candidates from both parties whom the industry considers allies. That's more than half of Coinbase's political spending and 96% of Ripple's this election. DraftKings has similarly directed about $34 million of its nearly $35 million spent this election to Win for America, the sports-betting industry's super PAC, according to FEC filings.
"Crypto wants to position itself as a political kingmaker — spending heavily and making sure lawmakers know it," said Dustin Duong, a researcher at Americans for Financial Reform who has analyzed crypto and AI political spending this election cycle. "But much of that money has gone to candidates already well-positioned to win."
In Congress, crypto companies are pushing for market-structure rules, AI firms are battling over how Washington will regulate their rapidly expanding industry, and sports-betting operators are confronting regulatory fights.
Democratic divide
As Republican donors open their wallets, some of Democrats' biggest benefactors are missing from the DNC's donor rolls.
George Soros — the only Democratic-aligned donor among the 10 largest individual and family donor groups in CNBC's analysis— and his son Alex have given the DNC nothing this election cycle. It's a reversal from 2022, when the two contributed more than $1 million to the committee, according to FEC filings. The two gave $1.125 million combined to the DNC and its joint fundraising committee in 2022, a total that would have ranked first among DNC donors in CNBC's analysis.
Elsewhere, Dustin Moskovitz, the Facebook and Asana co-founder gave roughly $413,000 to the DNC during the 2024 cycle, alongside $50 million to Future Forward and $929,600 to the Harris Victory Fund. CNBC found no contribution from Moskovitz to the DNC this cycle.
"Donors, just like voters, want to feel energized and enthused, and they're getting that from the candidates this cycle rather than the major groups and the party apparatus," said The First Ask's Welles.
The DNC ended August with $16.9 million in cash and $17.6 million in debt, versus $125.6 million at the RNC and no debt, according to FEC filings. DNC officials tell CNBC the gap reflects being out of power and spending earlier, noting that their fundraising is running $85 million ahead of the same point in 2018, the last midterm when Republicans controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress. Total political spending in 2018 when adjusted for inflation was $7.1 billion, according to OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan nonprofit that tracks such spending. AdImpact projects political spending for the 2026 election will set a record, surpassing even presidential years.
The DNC also says 79 donors have given at least $100,000, up from 50 at this point in 2018. But the count does not show how much each donor gave above that threshold.
People connected to Democratic fundraising tell CNBC some major donors remain wary after Harris' 2024 presidential defeat. Her campaign and allied groups raised more than $1 billion in less than three months, only to lose the White House and finish the year with nearly $1 million in unpaid bills.
Some donors came away questioning spending decisions, particularly on pricey consultants and lavish events.
"A lot of people feel like they spent a lot of money in 2024 and got nothing for it. They aren't happy," said Steve Schale, a longtime Democratic strategist who led the pro-Biden super PAC Unite the Country. "There's been a lack of a reckoning over how much money was raised and spent in 2024 — there's still kind of a hangover from that."
Other donors are uneasy with the growing clout of the party’s left flank, from democratic socialists such as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to progressives such as Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed.
“I’ve definitely had donors who have said to me, ‘Give me five people that you know that aren’t DSA [Democratic Socialists of America] people, and I’ll write them a check,’” Schale told CNBC.
Changing spending habits
Other Democratic megadonors are simply cutting out the middleman, picking individual races and candidates to support.
Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former New York City mayor, put $11 million behind a super PAC supporting Micah Lasher in New York's 12th Congressional District and $2.5 million toward Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's reelection, according to federal and Pennsylvania campaign-finance records.
LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman has taken a similar approach. The longtime Democratic donor has given nothing to the DNC but contributed $11.5 million to Lone Star Rising, the super PAC backing Democratic Texas Senate nominee James Talarico. One $10 million check from Hoffman accounted for nearly 80% of the group's second-quarter fundraising.
Talarico, a Democratic darling, has become a fundraising powerhouse in his own right, raising $68.6 million through June 30 and ending the quarter with $21.5 million in cash, according to FEC filings.
He’s hardly alone. The FEC currently lists Democrats Jon Ossoff, Talarico and Sherrod Brown as the cycle’s three highest-raising Senate candidates. Across seven key Senate races, Democrats entered July with $74.7 million in cash, more than double Republicans' $36.8 million, according to a CNBC analysis of FEC filings through June 30.
The pattern extends to the House. Democratic challengers outraised Republican incumbents in 14 of 17 races in the second quarter, the Cook Report found when looking at races it rated "Toss Up" or "Lean Republican."

document fetched 2026-10-09 02:52 · canonical https://cnbc.com/2026/10/08/2026-midterm-election-megadonors.html