The money behind the most expensive U.S. House race in history

Update (June 21, 9am ET): Republican Karen Handel won the special election in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, making history as the state’s first Republican congresswoman. Here are more details as to the role outside spending played in the election.

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Sometimes, all politics is not local.

A special election in the Atlanta suburbs to replace Republican Rep. Tom Price — who was tapped by President Donald Trump to serve as the new Secretary of Health and Human Services earlier this year — has attracted attention, and tens of millions of dollars, from partisans across the country.

The contest now ranks as the most expensive U.S. House race in history. Including the money raised and spent leading up to April’s primary election, in which no candidate garnered a majority of the vote, roughly $60 million has been pumped into the race, according to an Issue One analysis of filings with the Federal Election Commission.

Here’s more about the money behind the special election, which will be decided by voters on Tuesday, June 20, as Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel vie to represent Georgia’s 6th Congressional District:

$59.6 million is the combined amount all candidates and political groups have invested in the special election in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, including both the primary and runoff phases of the contest.

55 percent is the portion of this money that has been controlled by the candidates, while 45 percent has been spent by outside groups, including super PACs, politically active nonprofits and party committees such as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC).

$23.9 million is the amount Democrat Jon Ossoff raised for his campaign during all phases of the special election in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District. That number may grow even higher as the campaigns won’t report their final fundraising tallies until after the election.

Two-thirds is the approximate portion of Democrat Jon Ossoff’s campaign war chest that came from small-dollar donors giving $200 or less, as of the end of May.

$4.8 million is the amount Republican Karen Handel raised for her campaign during all phases of the special election in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District.

One-third is the approximate portion of Republican Karen Handel’s campaign war chest that came from small-dollar donors giving $200 or less, as of the end of May.

5-to-1 is the approximate ratio by which Democrat Jon Ossoff’s campaign outraised Republican Karen Handel during all phases of the campaign.

2.5-to-1 is the approximate ratio by which conservative outside groups aligned with Republican Karen Handel outspent liberal outside groups aligned with Jon Ossoff during all phases of the campaign.

$26.8 million is the combined amount outside groups have spent during all phases of the race on “independent expenditures,” that is, advertisements and other messages that encourage people to vote for or against a particular candidate.

More numbers regarding the runoff:

$18.9 million is the amount outside groups have spent during the “runoff” phase of the special election in Georgia. That’s nearly two-and-a-half times the $7.9 million outside groups spent ahead of the April 18 primary.

$12 million is the amount groups supportive of Republican Karen Handel have spent during the runoff election — that’s about 63 percent of all the outside spending during this phase of the campaign.

51 percent is the portion of outside spending during the runoff election that has been critical of Democrat Jon Ossoff. About 32 percent of the outside spending during the runoff was critical of Republican Karen Handel, while about 12 percent praised Handel and 5 percent praised Ossoff.

30 is the number of outside groups that have reported being active in the runoff phase of the Georgia special election. The top six groups, however, account for 89 percent of the spending.

$5 million is the amount the DCCC has spent on independent expenditures, mostly ads, during the runoff election. The other top outside groups during the runoff phase of the race are the NRCC ($4.8 million), the Congressional Leadership Fund ($3.8 million), America First Policies Inc. ($1.5 million), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ($1.2 million) and House Majority PAC ($650,000).

More numbers regarding the entire race:

6 is the number of outside groups that spent at least $1 million during all phases of the special election in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District.

$6.7 million is the amount the NRCC spent during all phases of the special election in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District.

$6.5 million is the amount the Congressional Leadership Fund super PAC spent during all phases of the special election in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District.

The other top outside spenders during the entire race were the DCCC ($5 million), America First Policies Inc. ($1.5 million), Ending Spending Inc. ($1.3 million), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ($1.2 million), the Planned Parenthood Action Fund ($810,000) and House Majority PAC ($650,000).

81 percent is the portion of all outside spending, during all phases of the special election in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, that was negative.

Source: Issue One analysis of Federal Election Commission data.