Much like running a corporation, running for president is an expensive and time-consuming undertaking. Just like a corporation, a campaign involves employees, money management, public relations, advertising and the selling of a product or service. Which in this case is the person running for office. In this graphic, we take a look at just what all it takes to run for president, and how big of a business doing so has become.
Like all businesses, you have better success in some states than others. Below is a look at how effective each candidate has been state by state in fundraising.
- Overall Fundraising: Obama has raised $556M and Romney $340M.
- State-by-State Breakdown: A few examples…
- NY: $11.2M Obama vs. $8.9M Romney
- Ohio: $.8M Romney vs. $.6M Obama
- CA: $68.3M Obama vs. $33.8M Romney
- FL: $24.8M Romney vs. $16.9M Obama
- Average Contribution: Romney has raised $170M from those contributing $2,000 or more vs. Obama who raised nearly half of that from larger donors at $92M. See the graph for the entire breakdown!
- Rising Influence of Super PACs: RNC has raised $273M from Super PACs vs. DNC which raised $70M. This has dramatically impacted the race as they need no involvement from the candidates themselves.
- Breakdown of how they spend their funds: Obama spent 51% on advertising vs. Romney 45%. See breakdown by payroll, travel, polling, etc.
- History of Presidential Campaign Costs: Lincoln spent just $2.8M in 1860; Reagan and Carter spent approx. $300M, see breakdown of major campaigns from history.
[stextbox id=”grey”]
Infographic Credits, courtesy of Best Degree Programs:
Source: Bestdegreeprograms.org
[/stextbox]
