The Democrats Getting the Most Super PAC Support in 2026

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Companion piece: The Republicans Getting the Most Super PAC Support in 2026. Figures as of mid-October 2026.

The Democrat getting the most super PAC help in 2026 is Sherrod Brown, the former Ohio senator trying to win back a seat. Outside groups had spent about $76.5 million to help him by October 20: $69.5 million attacking Republican Jon Husted and a little over $7 million promoting Brown (Ohio Capital Journal).

That is a large number, and it is less than half of what Husted is getting. That gap is the defining fact of Democratic outside money this year. Conservative groups had spent more than $1.1 billion this cycle by early October, against roughly $727 million from liberal groups (OpenSecrets). Democratic candidates have answered with their own money: in most competitive Senate races they have far outraised their opponents.

This article ranks the Democratic candidates receiving the most super PAC support, using the same method as our companion piece on Republicans.

The leaderboard

As in our Republican piece, we count super PAC money that helps a candidate either way: ads supporting them and ads attacking their opponent. On the Democratic side, almost all of it is the second kind.

Rank Candidate Race Biggest reported super PAC support
1 Sherrod Brown Ohio Senate special (vs. Jon Husted) About $76.5 million: $69.5 million attacking Husted and just over $7 million supporting Brown. WinSenate and its affiliate Duty and Country PAC account for $44.2 million (Ohio Capital Journal).
2 Josh Turek Iowa Senate (vs. Ashley Hinson) $28.2 million from WinSenate opposing Hinson (Legis1).
3 Abdul El-Sayed Michigan Senate (vs. Mike Rogers) $22.3 million from WinSenate opposing Rogers (Legis1), with several million more reported in mid-October (Inside Political Money).
4 Roy Cooper North Carolina Senate (vs. Michael Whatley) $17.4 million from WinSenate opposing Whatley as of late September (Legis1).
5 Troy Jackson Maine Senate (vs. Susan Collins) $5.2 million from WinSenate opposing Collins in filings from Oct. 16–17 alone (Inside Political Money), on top of earlier spending.
6 James Talarico Texas Senate (vs. Ken Paxton) Outside groups on the Democratic side spent only a small fraction of the roughly $287 million in the race through Oct. 5, when conservatives accounted for almost $253 million (OpenSecrets). Texas Forever spent $5 million against Paxton in mid-October (Inside Political Money).

For comparison: the Republican side of the Ohio race has drawn $171.9 million, and Paxton about $253 million. In every race where comparable figures exist, the Republican candidate has more super PAC support, often by a wide margin.

Read the rankings with care. The figures come from different sources at slightly different dates, and several rows count only WinSenate, the largest Democratic Senate super PAC. Total Democratic outside support in those races is higher. The order reflects the best available evidence, not a single audited total.

Who is paying

Democratic outside money is concentrated in a few party-aligned groups:

Group Spent Focus
WinSenate $170.7 million through Oct. 19 (Legis1) Senate races; run by Senate Majority PAC
House Majority PAC $49.3 million through Oct. 5 (OpenSecrets) House races; aligned with Hakeem Jeffries. It announced plans to spend $272 million this cycle (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Protect Progress $27.6 million through Oct. 5 (OpenSecrets) Crypto industry, Democratic side of the Fairshake network

WinSenate is the Democrats' answer to Senate Leadership Fund and is spending faster as Election Day nears: its weekly spending rose from $28.2 million to $33.4 million in mid-October (Legis1). It has booked about $222 million in ad reservations in all (Punchbowl News).

The largest Democratic donor is George Soros, whose family has given about $103 million this cycle, mostly through Democracy PAC, a super PAC that Alex Soros now runs (Brennan Center, TNND). That is less than the $179 million Soros gave in the 2022 midterms, and well under a third of the $366 million Elon Musk has given Republicans this cycle.

What stands out

Candidates carrying their own weight. Where Republicans lean on super PACs, Democrats lean on their candidates. James Talarico raised about $60 million in the third quarter alone (The Hill) and has spent $114.2 million, more than any other congressional candidate this cycle (USAFacts). That has a practical advantage: candidates pay the lowest broadcast ad rates, while super PACs pay much more for the same airtime (Punchbowl News). It also means Talarico is getting relatively little help from national Democratic groups in the most expensive race in the country.

The most expensive Democratic primary ever. In Michigan's Senate primary, more than $60 million in outside money poured in, mostly to help Rep. Haley Stevens, a record for any Democratic congressional primary (Mother Jones). The biggest spender was the United Democracy Project, AIPAC's super PAC. Stevens lost the nomination to Abdul El-Sayed, who is now the party's nominee. The episode renewed an argument inside the party about outside groups picking winners in Democratic primaries. More on that in The Most Controversial Super PAC Spending of the Last Decade.

Dark money is not a one-party problem. Super PACs tied to both parties' House and Senate leadership raised $198 million through affiliated dark-money nonprofits through June, more than ever before (Brennan Center). On the Democratic side, Senate Majority PAC's nonprofit partner Majority Forward has been its biggest single funder in past cycles (see our profiles).

Running against big money, with big money. Leading Democratic Senate candidates are campaigning on getting money out of politics and curbing billionaire donors (Brennan Center). Republicans point out that the same candidates benefit from Soros-funded super PACs and dark-money groups. Democrats reply that they did not write the rules and cannot disarm unilaterally.

How we counted

  • What counts as support: independent expenditures by super PACs and hybrid PACs either supporting the candidate or opposing their general-election opponent. Party committee spending and the candidate's own spending are excluded.
  • Sources: OpenSecrets analysis of FEC filings where available; otherwise FEC figures as reported by named news outlets and trackers. Each figure is linked.
  • Limits: Filing schedules differ, and spending after mid-October is only partly reported. Several rows count only WinSenate. Dark-money groups that run issue ads may not appear at all. We will update this list after the post-general reports, due December 3.
  • Same method, both parties: see our companion article, The Republicans Getting the Most Super PAC Support in 2026.

Sources

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