Editor:
The 2026 midterm elections cost nearly $12 billion, a record. The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision enabled this.
That decision allowed the formation of political action committees (PACs) that can accept large political donations for distribution to favored candidates regardless of the $3,500 individual donation limit. It allows the wealthy greater political influence. The 50 largest donors contributed $2.8 billion, about 23 percent of the total.
But what is the practical magnitude of $12 billion?
It exceeds the budget of 14 states and is more than the $11 billion the federal government spent in 2025 on research in cancer ($7.2 billion) plus Alzheimer’s and dementia ($3.8 billion). It could form a $12 billion pool of government money to replace PAC funding that would be available to candidates of all types under specific rules.
Just think if the US government were actually able to eliminate PACs and put in place a capped funding pool, say at $3.75 billion. This is equivalent to a deposit of $15 for each of the country’s estimated 250 million eligible voters.
Doing so would help level the political playing field and leave the wealthy with more dollars they could use to provide a greater public benefit elsewhere.
Sherman Schapiro, Eureka
This article appears in El Niño is Here.
