Finance

5 takeaways from 2025’s end-of-year campaign finance reports

Published

4 months ago

February 3, 2026

5 takeaways from 2025’s end-of-year campaign finance reports

President Trump stockpiled millions into his super PAC, while a handful of GOP groups outraised their Democratic counterparts in the last stretch of 2025 as Republicans brace for a midterm cycle shaping up to be much like the anti-Trump 2018 midterms.

Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., has more than $300 million in the bank to start off 2026, according to recent campaign filings, while the Republican National Committee (RNC) outraised the Democrats, who are working to pay off debt from the 2024 cycle.

Yet there are some bright spots for Democrats, too: Many of the party’s Senate candidates have outperformed their Republican contenders as the party looks to make inroads in the upper chamber.

Here are five takeaways from the last campaign filing reports of 2025:

Trump stockpiles millions

The president’s super PAC is starting off the year with $304 million — an impressive sum of money that demonstrates Republicans will not be without resources as they look to keep their narrow House majority and retain control of the Senate.

The super PAC’s latest filing, which covers Dec. 23 through Dec. 31, showed the president received $7.5 million from the pro-Trump dark money group Securing American Greatness Inc. and $1 million from businessman and Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly, among others.

Other prominent figures who have donated to Trump’s super PAC over the past year include $12.5 million each from OpenAI president and co-founder Greg Bockman and his wife, $11 million from entrepreneur and investor Konstantin Sokolov, and $4 million from defense contractor chief executive Michelle D’Souza.

A number of prominent businesspeople and donors have given to Trump or his aligned entities, particularly for his construction of the East Wing ballroom, as different industries have looked to curry favor with the president.

RNC holds large cash-on-hand advantage over DNC

The RNC outraised the Democratic National Committee in 2025, $172 million compared to $146 million. In December, the RNC edged out its Democratic counterparts at $16 million to roughly $13 million.

The Republican Party also starts off 2026 with a nearly $100 million cash-on-hand advantage over Democrats: The GOP has $95 million in the bank to start off the year, while Democrats have $14 million cash on hand, in addition to close to $18 million in debt.

Democrats have steadily been trying to pay off debt that was accrued during former Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign in 2024. Donors in the aftermath of the 2024 election also curbed their spending to different groups amid frustration over how the presidential cycle played out and as the party looked to reset itself heading into 2026.

Across the board, however, GOP groups like the House Republican and Senate Republican campaign arms posted larger 2025 hauls than their Democratic counterparts. However, the cash on hand for the House and Senate Democratic campaign arms are nearly equal to or have narrowly surpassed their GOP counterparts.

Democratic Senate candidates largely outraise GOP challengers

If there’s one financial silver lining for Democrats right now, it’s that the party’s Senate challengers in competitive races have largely outraised their Republican contenders.

In Georgia, Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) — seen as the most vulnerable Senate Democrat up for reelection this cycle — raised close to $10 million between October and December from his campaign. He starts off 2026 with close to $26 million in the bank.

His GOP opponents trail far behind. Former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley’s campaign raised $1.1 million and has $2.1 million cash on hand. Rep. Buddy Carter’s campaign (R-Ga.) raised $1.7 million, which includes a $1 million loan to himself, and starts off this year with nearly $4.2 million. Rep. Mike Collins’s campaign (R-Ga.) raised about $825,000 and has $2.3 million cash on hand.

In Ohio, former Sen. Sherrod Brown’s (D-Ohio) campaign raised $7.3 million in the last quarter of 2025 and has nearly $10 million in the bank. Meanwhile, Sen. Jon Husted’s (R-Ohio) campaign raised $1.5 million between October and December and starts off the year with close to $6 million in the bank.

Musk starts spending ahead of midterms

Elon Musk has resumed pumping money toward GOP groups heading into the midterms, less than a year after he signaled he would pull back from political spending. The Tesla CEO gave $5 million each to two super PACs helmed by House Republican and Senate Republican leadership.

All told, Musk has given $20 million to the two political groups in 2025, highlighting how the former Trump adviser is poised to play an important role again in the upcoming election cycle for Republicans.

Musk spent millions in last year’s Wisconsin Supreme Court races, yet the liberal candidate handily won the vacant seat on the state’s high court. However, his spending helped level the playing field for Republicans.

While his spending will help the GOP, Democrats are sure to seize on his involvement, too. In the past, they have featured Musk in their advertising, such as showcasing his chainsaw-wielding appearance during last year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), in an effort to boost turnout among their voters.

Filings offer insight into contested Senate primaries

The campaign finance filings also offer some clues about the fundraising strength of candidates in contested Senate primaries.

Progressive oyster farmer Graham Platner, who was mired in controversy last year over past social media posts, raised $4.6 million in the last quarter of 2025 from his campaign and has $3.7 million in the bank. Meanwhile, centrist Maine Gov. Janet Mills’s (D) campaign raised $2.7 million in the last quarter and starts off this year with $1.3 million.

In Texas, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D) and state Rep. James Talarico (D) posted similar fundraising hauls — $6.5 million and nearly $6.9 million, respectively. Most of Crockett’s haul came from transfers from her House campaign. Talarico’s campaign also posted a cash on hand advantage — $7.1 million to Crockett’s $5.6 million.

Finance

Proximo Congress 2026: US Energy & Infrastructure Finance | Insights | Mayer Brown

Published

4 hours ago

June 3, 2026

Press Room

Proximo Congress 2026: US Energy & Infrastructure Finance | Insights | Mayer Brown

Mayer Brown is a proud sponsor of Proximo Congress 2026. This senior meeting of the US energy, infrastructure, and digital infrastructure finance community is shaped around the questions credit and investment committees are actually asking in 2026: how asset classes are converging, how risk is being priced in a recalibrated policy and geopolitical environment, and how public and private capital are being structured together to deliver projects at scale.

Mayer Brown has also been recognized for three separate awards which will be presented during the event. These awards include:

Proximo North America Transport Deal of the Year 2025 – SR 400 Peach Partners
Proximo North America Rail Deal of the Year 2025 – Brightline West
Proximo North America LNG Deal of the Year 2025 – Port Arthur LNG 2

For more information, visit the event website.

Finance

What are nonconforming mortgages and what are the risks?

Published

14 hours ago

June 2, 2026

Press Room

What are nonconforming mortgages and what are the risks?

If you have ever taken out a mortgage, you’ll know there are a lot of requirements to meet. You may need to put down a certain amount and have a debt-to-income ratio below a certain threshold. You may also run into limits on how much you can borrow or what sources of income the lender will count.

These rules do not apply to all mortgages — just to conforming mortgages, which is what the majority of borrowers take out. However, mortgage lenders are increasingly offering what are known as nonconforming loans, or mortgages that do not “comply with every one of the strict standards put in place after the housing crisis,” said The Wall Street Journal. While “still a small portion,” the “share of mortgages using alternative lending practices” has “doubled in size over the past three years.”

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Finance

Financial Stress Is Changing What Consumers Value in Credit Cards | PYMNTS.com

Published

1 day ago

June 2, 2026

Press Room

Financial Stress Is Changing What Consumers Value in Credit Cards | PYMNTS.com

What U.S. consumers ask of their credit cards has changed. For financially stressed households, it has little to do with rewards.

As more households turn to credit cards to manage liquidity and cover everyday expenses, a new set of practical concerns is driving card behavior: Can the card help avoid a missed payment? Can it make balances easier to track? Can it provide enough visibility into available credit and upcoming obligations to help manage an uncertain month?

Those concerns are beginning to reorder what consumers value most in their credit card relationships.

That evidence is clear in “Winning Top of Wallet: How Credit Card Apps Shape Choice,” a PYMNTS Intelligence and Elan Credit Card report examining how consumers use mobile apps to manage spending, payments and engagement across their credit card portfolios. The report found 30% of consumers primarily use credit cards to build credit or extend purchasing power, while another 22% primarily use cards for cash flow management, together outweighing rewards-based usage.

The divide is more pronounced among financially stressed households. Among consumers living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to pay bills, 40% cited credit dependence as their primary reason for using credit cards. Just 11% pointed to rewards.

For a growing share of consumers, credit cards are functioning less like discretionary spending products and more like liquidity management tools.

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What Matters Most

That evolution is also changing which app features matter most.

Among cash flow-focused consumers, 31% said scheduling payments or autopay encouraged them to spend more on a card, while 27% cited alerts and reminders. Credit-motivated consumers showed similarly high engagement with tools tied to available credit visibility and payment timing.

Rewards still influence spending behavior, particularly among financially stable households. Half of consumers who prioritize rewards said tracking or redeeming rewards through a mobile app encouraged them to spend more on the card.

But the report suggests that financial stress changes the hierarchy of engagement. As household budgets tighten, rewards become less central than predictability, visibility and control.

That shift helps explain why mobile apps increasingly influence which cards become top of wallet.

Among credit-dependent consumers, 77% said the quality of a credit card app influences which card they use most often. Credit-dependent consumers also reported the highest app adoption levels, with 77% using their primary card’s app regularly or occasionally.

The competition, in other words, is no longer simply about card acquisition. It is about becoming the card consumers rely on to navigate everyday financial management.

Digital Experience Becomes a Financial Retention Tool

The report also suggests that digital experience increasingly shapes retention risk.

Nearly 1 in 4 cardholders said a poor app or digital experience contributed to reduced card use. Among Gen Z consumers, that figure climbed to 45%.

At the same time, 7 in 10 cardholders said app quality influences which card becomes their primary card, underscoring how mobile interfaces are becoming embedded directly into consumer payment behavior.

For issuers, the implications extend beyond app design.

Consumers living paycheck to paycheck hold nearly as many credit cards as financially stable households, meaning financially stressed consumers are not disengaging from credit entirely. Instead, they are becoming more selective about which cards feel easiest to manage and most useful during periods of financial pressure.

Rewards and promotional offers still matter, particularly among affluent and financially stable consumers. But for a growing segment of households, the most valuable card may be the one that reduces uncertainty around balances, payment timing and available liquidity.

In a crowded multi-card market, financial visibility itself is becoming part of the product.