cost of campaign for congress
Last year, winning Senate candidates spent an average of $10.3 million, according to the latest edition of Vital Statistics on Congress, which was released this week. That's a 62% increase, adjusted for inflation, since 1986. Spending on winning Senate races has increased 62% in 2012 dollars since 1986. 2  The increase is more pronounced in the House, where winning a race there increased by 334%. 3  Biggest increase is in outside groups, which went from $9 miilion in 1986 to $457 million in 2012.