US political campaigns will spend $6 billion in federal races this year, making the 2012 general election the most expensive poll in American history, experts said Wednesday. The presidential election pitting President Barack Obama against Republican challenger Mitt Romney, alone accounts for $2.6 billion, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which analyses US electoral expenses at opensecrets.org.
That's a decrease from the record-breaking 2008 campaign total of $2.8 billion, when Obama had to also finance a Democratic primary fight against Hillary Clinton. The total includes spending by presidential candidates and major party committees - about $2 billion - $528 million from outside groups that report spending to federal authorities and $142 million from party convention host committees and public funding for the national conventions. Overall, the 2012 election is set to top the last most expensive election - four years ago - by about $700 million, due in large part to an unprecedented amount of money of over $970 million raised and spent by outside groups following a decisive 2010 Supreme Court decision.