I’ve been chronicling the increase in spending on election litigation. Since 2015, election donors may contribute to “election recounts and contests and other legal proceedings,” above and beyond individual candidate campaign contribution limits.

Perhaps surprisingly, the pace of fundraising actually lags the 2021-22 cycle. Democratic fundraising badly lags Republican fundraising, but Democrats performed exceedingly well in 2021-22, and it’s possible that fundraising totals after President Joe Biden dropped out will rebound.

The total from the first 18 months of 2023-2024 cycle are in, and the Federal Election Commission reports more than $113 million in contributions to accounts of national party committees. The breakdown:

DNC: $16,386,455

RNC: $41,950,727

DSCC: $11,737,115

NRSC: $15,813,860

DCCC: $13,928,146

NRCC: $14,083,316

Democratic National Party Totals: $42,051,716

Republican National Party Totals: $71,847,903

(Other: $519)

Grand Total: $113,900,138