Meddling score

Which outside groups reached hardest into other people's races?

A score from 0 to 100 for every group that spent $5 million or more on 2026 outside spending. It measures three things from the groups' own FEC filings: how much of their money went into primaries, where a party's own voters pick their nominee; how much went to attacking candidates; and how big a share of each race's money they supplied by themselves.

What we found

112 groups, $3.52B of outside spending, through 10/14/2026.

Highest score

Texans for a Conservative Majority

The typical group

Median of all ranked groups

53 vs 29

Mostly-primary groups vs the rest

Average score; 37 groups spent most of their money in primaries

Texans for a Conservative Majority scores highest, at 89: 100% of its money went into primaries, 85% attacking, 41% of the money in its typical race. Its money went into the Texas Senate, Republican primary.

Among the 13 groups that spent $50 million or more, United Democracy Project scores highest, at 64 (ranked 8). 90% of its $54M went into primaries.

The party leadership super PACs, which spend almost only in the general election, sit near the middle: Republican leadership 44, Democratic leadership 43. Groups that mostly back candidates rather than attack them score lowest, down to Blackpac at 1.

It is not a one-party list. Of the 9 groups scoring 60 or more, 4 mostly helped Republicans, 3 mostly helped Democrats and 2 spent on both sides or in contests where the party is unclear.

Every group, ranked

Score, then the three inputs it averages. Voice is the group's share of the money in its typical race; the score counts it doubled, up to 100.

112 groups. Rank is out of all 112.

1
Texans for a Conservative Majority$35M outside spending · 1 contest89Very high
Primary100%
Attack85%
Voice41%
Biggest contest: Texas Senate, Republican primary, $35M, 41% of all the money in it.
2
Louisiana Freedom Fund$11M outside spending · 1 contest79Very high
Primary100%
Attack100%
Voice18%
Biggest contest: Louisiana Senate, Republican primary, $11M, 18% of all the money in it.
3
Kentucky 4th PAC$6.7M outside spending · 1 contest78Very high
Primary100%
Attack100%
Voice17%
Biggest contest: Kentucky 4th District, Republican primary, $6.7M, 17% of all the money in it.
4
North Star Dawn PAC$13M outside spending · 1 contest75Very high
Primary100%
Attack47%
Voice39%
Biggest contest: Minnesota Senate, Democratic primary, $13M, 39% of all the money in it.
5
Maga Ky$7.5M outside spending · 1 contest74Very high
Primary100%
Attack83%
Voice19%
Biggest contest: Kentucky 4th District, Republican primary, $7.5M, 19% of all the money in it.
6
Advance Progress$5.6M outside spending · 1 contest71Very high
Primary100%
Attack60%
Voice27%
Biggest contest: Massachusetts Senate, Democratic primary, $5.6M, 27% of all the money in it.
7
Palmetto Action$7.5M outside spending · 2 contests70Very high
Primary90%
Attack90%
Voice15%
Biggest contest: South Carolina Senate, Republican primary, $6.8M, 16% of all the money in it.
8
United Democracy ProjectAIPAC · $54M outside spending · 8 contests64Very high
Primary90%
Attack57%
Voice22%
Biggest contest: Michigan Senate, Democratic primary, $31M, 22% of all the money in it.
9
Security Is Strength PAC$15M outside spending · 4 contests61Very high
Primary57%
Attack49%
Voice39%
Biggest contest: South Carolina Senate, Republican primary, $8.6M, 21% of all the money in it.
10
Alabama Freedom Fund$5.5M outside spending · 2 contests59High
Primary100%
Attack44%
Voice16%
Biggest contest: Alabama Senate, Republican primary, $5.5M, 16% of all the money in it.
11
Keep America Great PAC, Inc.$15M outside spending · 2 contests58High
Primary88%
Attack52%
Voice17%
Biggest contest: Kentucky Senate, Republican primary, $13M, 19% of all the money in it.
12
Fight for Kentucky$13M outside spending · 1 contest56High
Primary100%
Attack29%
Voice19%
Biggest contest: Kentucky Senate, Republican primary, $13M, 19% of all the money in it.
13
FairshakeCrypto industry · $19M outside spending · 9 contests54High
Primary68%
Attack68%
Voice13%
Biggest contest: Illinois Senate, Democratic primary, $9.9M, 15% of all the money in it.
14
Illinois Future PAC$12M outside spending · 1 contest54High
Primary100%
Attack27%
Voice18%
Biggest contest: Illinois Senate, Democratic primary, $12M, 18% of all the money in it.
15
Americans 4 Security PAC$7.0M outside spending · 6 contests54High
Primary50%
Attack89%
Voice11%
Biggest contest: California 40th District, general, $3.3M, 12% of all the money in it.
16
Win It Back PAC$19M outside spending · 15 contests53High
Primary52%
Attack89%
Voice8%
Biggest contest: Kentucky Senate, Republican primary, $4.4M, 6% of all the money in it.
17
Think Big$19M outside spending · 20 contests53High
Primary93%
Attack44%
Voice12%
Biggest contest: New York 12th District, Democratic primary, $8.2M, 13% of all the money in it.
18
Elect Chicago Women Aka Ecw$9.8M outside spending · 2 contests53High
Primary100%
Attack15%
Voice23%
Biggest contest: Illinois 9th District, Democratic primary, $5.8M, 22% of all the money in it.
19
New Democrat Majority$6.4M outside spending · 12 contests50High
Primary84%
Attack53%
Voice6%
Biggest contest: Missouri 1st District, Democratic primary, $1.1M, 11% of all the money in it.
20
Protect ProgressCrypto industry · $30M outside spending · 37 contests49High
Primary88%
Attack9%
Voice25%
Biggest contest: Texas 18th District, Democratic primary, $6.5M, 41% of all the money in it.
21
Conservatives for American Excellence Inc.$17M outside spending · 30 contests49High
Primary56%
Attack64%
Voice13%
Biggest contest: Florida 16th District, Republican primary, $1.9M, 45% of all the money in it.
22
Last Frontier PAC$11M outside spending · 2 contests49High
Primary36%
Attack100%
Voice5%
Biggest contest: Alaska Senate, general, $7.0M, 5% of all the money in it.
23
New Leadership Now$5.4M outside spending · 2 contests48High
Primary50%
Attack77%
Voice9%
Biggest contest: California 4th District, top-two primary, $2.7M, 10% of all the money in it.
24
Invest in Tomorrow Coalition PAC$12M outside spending · 12 contests47High
Primary26%
Attack88%
Voice14%
Biggest contest: Indiana 5th District, general, $2.0M, 21% of all the money in it.
25
Bda PAC$7.2M outside spending · 8 contests47High
Primary69%
Attack55%
Voice9%
Biggest contest: California 4th District, general, $1.8M, 6% of all the money in it.

Networks

Groups that work together, scored on their combined money. Not ranked with single committees.

Trump's super PACs
MAGA Inc. and the two pop-up PACs it funds · $381M
36
In primaries0%
Attacking81%
Voice in its races14%
Crypto industry super PACs
Fairshake, Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress · $154M
36
In primaries45%
Attacking32%
Voice in its races16%
Republican leadership super PACs
Senate Leadership Fund and Congressional Leadership Fund · $576M
44
In primaries1%
Attacking97%
Voice in its races17%
Democratic leadership super PACs
House Majority PAC and WinSenate · $565M
43
In primaries0%
Attacking93%
Voice in its races18%

Method

How it is scored

Score = (primary share + attack share + 2 × voice share, capped at 100) ÷ 3

Primary share is the share of a group's 2026 independent expenditures made in primaries and primary runoffs, as the group reported the election on each FEC filing.

Attack share is the share it reported as opposing a candidate. Every filer ticks support or oppose, so this needs no judgment from us.

Voice share is, for each contest the group spent in, its share of all the money in that contest: every candidate's receipts plus all outside spending there, averaged by dollars. A party primary is its own contest, separate from the general; California and Washington's top-two primaries and Alaska's top-four are one contest for all parties. Voice is doubled and capped at 100, so a group that supplied half of a typical race's money gets the full 100 on this input.

Who is ranked. Every committee with $5 million or more in independent expenditures this cycle. Smaller groups are left out of the ranking because one ad buy swings their shares. Presidential spending is left out. The same formula applies to every group, with no adjustments by hand.

Shown beside the score, not in it: money spent in the primary of the party a group otherwise works against; primary money against a sitting member of Congress; and the share of a group's itemized individual donor dollars from outside the states it spent in. That last one is 85% to 100% for almost every national group, so it does not tell them apart.

What the score does not say. It describes how a group spent, not why, and not whether it worked (see Winners & losers for that). Spending in primaries and attacking candidates are legal and common. No candidate gets a score, and a high score does not mean any candidate owes the group anything. A group can score high defending a member it likes.

What it misses. TV "issue ads" that never name a candidate inside the FEC reporting windows, dark-money spending not reported as independent expenditures, and spending after the latest filings. Candidate receipts run through 10/14/2026, so late candidate money makes voice share run slightly high.

Sources: FEC independent expenditures (24- and 48-hour reports included) and FEC candidate summaries for the 2026 cycle. Built 2026-11-06. Think a number is wrong? Ask for a correction.