Republicans reportedly are on track to spend about $1 billion in the GOP presidential nomination, the party's biggest splurge ever.
Campaign finance spending tracker OpenSecrets has projected the total while noting the final number will depend on how long it takes for the GOP nomination to wrap up.
"It's a lot of money to become a successful president in the end," Sarah Bryner, research director at OpenSecrets, told NPR.
In 2020, almost $6 billion was spent on the presidential race — about four times what it cost two decades ago, NPR reported — adding that including congressional races, the cost is more than $14 billion, double that of 2016.
But $1 billion for a primary, a first for Republicans, would come from a combination of campaign and super PAC spending, NPR reported.
"The wild card here is how much we can expect to see in fundraising and spending by super PACs," Bryner told NPR. "And those are subject to a lot more fluctuation because you can have one billionaire come in, drop $1 million, and that really changes the fundraising game.”
In the last open GOP primary in 2016, candidates spent about $400 million, followed by super PACs, for $768 million in total primary spending, according to the former Campaign Finance Institute, now merged with OpenSecrets, NPR reported.
In the 2024 race, candidate spending is expected to jump to at least $500 million with super PACs again spending about the same or a little less, Bryner told NPR.
Some of the candidates have deep pockets, NPR reported, with billionaire former President Donald Trump able to raise big money from small donors; Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis counting on not only a donor base but also on tens of millions left over from his gubernatorial campaign that CNN reported he transferred to a super PAC; Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., with $20 million on hand left over from his Senate races; and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum also a billionaire who kicked off his campaign with a reported $3 million advertising blitz, NBC reported.
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