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1 1 (December 5, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/govejpt0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Campaign Finance Estimates and the 2022 Elections December 5, 2022 How campaign finance activity is defined, and how reliable estimates are, varies by source, time period, and methodology. This CRS Insight reviews some recent Federal Election Commission (FEC) data and secondary estimates, and provides links to related CRS products on campaign finance policy and law. Several campaign finance proposals are included in bills addressing multiple areas of elections and voting policy during the 1171h Congress. No bills that have advanced beyond introduction would substantially affect the campaign finance data topics discussed below. Interpreting Campaign Finance Estimates Data sources vary not only in which methodologies they use, but also in how thoroughly they explain those approaches. These variations can affect how Members of Congress and staff might choose to assess different sources for legislative, oversight, or informational purposes. Data from the FEC, the independent agency responsible for enforcing civil campaign finance law, can be more precise than unofficial estimates because the former rely on methodology rooted in statute and regulation. Estimates from secondary sources are generally similar to FEC figures and can be useful before the commission releases official data, or if they contain interpretations not included in FEC data releas es. No single official aggregate campaign finance figure exists for a given election cycle, partially because campaign finance data are never truly final. Changes are common as filers amend campaign finance reports; the commission audits political committees; campaigns retire debt and issue refunds; or a combination thereof. Summary amounts that are available wary widely by source and based on which entities, activities, and time periods are included. The reporting calendar also affects which data are available and when. Cleaned FEC data take longer to become publicly available than some secondary sources. Recent Federal Election Commission Data FEC data summarized in Table 1 show that through November 30, political commnittees-w~hich include candidate campaigns, parties, and political action committees (PACs)-raised approximately $13.0 billion and spent approximately $7.5 billion during the 2022 cycle. The table excludes nonpolitical committee Congressional Re search Service https://crsreports .congiress.gov IN12058 CRS !INSIGHT Prepared for Membersand Committees of Congress