The American Presidency Project

General Election Campaign Financing

1860 - 2008

The figures respresented below are in dollars.

Year
Republicans
Democrats
1860
100,000
 50,000
1864
125,000
 50,000
1868
150,000
 75,000
1872
250,000
 50,000
1876
950,000
 900,000
1880
1,100,000
 355,000
1884
1,300,000
 1,400,000
1888
1,350,000
 855,000
1892
1,700,000
 2,350,000
1896
3,350,000
 675,000
1900
3,000,000
 425,000
1904
2,096,000
 700,000
1908
1,665,518
 629,341
1912
1,071,549
 1,134,848
1916
2,441,565
 2,284,590
1920
5,417,501
 1,470,371
1924
4,020,478
 1,108,836
1928
6,256,111
 5,342,350
1932
2,900,052
 2,245,975
1936
8,892,972
 5,194,741
1940
3,451,310
2,783,654
1944
2,828,652
 2,169,077
1948
2,127,296
 2,736,334
1952
6,608,623
 5,032,926
1956
7,778,702
 5,106,651
1960
10,128,000
 9,797,000
1964
16,026,000
 8,757,000
1968
25,402,000
 11,594,000
1972
37,624,278
 13,041,661
1976
21,820,000
 21,820,000
1980
29,400,000
 29,400,000
1984
40,400,000
 40,400,000
1988
46,100,000
 46,100,000
1992
55,200,000
 55,200,000
1996
61,800,000
 61,800,000
2000
67,560,000
67,560,000
2004
74,620,000
74,620,000
2008
84,100,000
745,700,000 1

 

 

Notes

Obama did not accept public financing in 2008. The figure reported here includes both the primary and general election phases. 

Source(s)

  •  2000-2008: Data compiled by Gerhard Peters from The Federal Election Commission.
  • 1860-1996: Lyn Ragsdale, Vital Statistics on the Presidency (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, 1998), 146..

Citations

Gerhard Peters. "General Election Campaign Financing." The American Presidency Project. Ed. John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters. Santa Barbara, CA: University of California. 1999-2012. Available from the World Wide Web: 
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/data/financing.php.