A political action committee affiliated with Gov. Wes Moore (D) spent $315,000 in the days leading up to this year’s election on ads that aimed to defeat his predecessor, Republican Larry Hogan, as Hogan vied to win a U.S. Senate seat.

Given the tens of millions of dollars spent on the election between Hogan and the victorious Democrat, Sen.-elect Angela Alsobrooks, the investment by Unity First PAC, which was set up earlier this year by Democratic operatives affiliated with Moore, was undeniably modest.

But new campaign finance reports filed Thursday with the Federal Election Commission provide the latest glimpse into the early expenditures of Unity First PAC — which is likely to become the primary vehicle to elevate Moore’s national political profile, even as he prepares for a difficult General Assembly session and his 2026 reelection campaign. The finance reports cover the period Oct. 17-Nov. 25.

Unity First PAC, which launched in the summer, is being run by Ned Miller, Moore’s 2022 campaign manager, and was focused on electing Alsobrooks for Senate and Rep.-elect April McClain Delaney (D-6th) in the state’s most competitive congressional elections.

Through Nov. 25, three weeks after Election Day, Unity First reported raising $743,000 since its creation, mostly from large donors, and spending $690,200. But almost two-thirds of that spending, $402,170, took place in the days leading up to the election, most of it on ads attacking Hogan and former Del. Neil C. Parrott (R), Delaney’s opponent.

In all, the PAC spent $415,000 on anti-Hogan advertising and $75,000 on digital ads attacking Parrott.

The PAC raised $35,000 from two national unions just before the election — $25,000 from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and $10,000 from the International Association of Firefighters. It reported $52,799 on hand as of Nov. 25 — an amount that Moore and his associates will no doubt look to build on as he considers whether to wade into the nascent 2028 White House campaign.

Unity First PAC should sustain Moore’s political activities outside Maryland, while his state campaign fund will nurture his 2026 reelection bid. That committee will report its activities for 2024 in mid-January.

The Alsobrooks-Hogan general election was the most expensive in Maryland history. Alsobrooks’ principal campaign committee reported spending $30.3 million through Nov. 25, and had $288,156 in its war chest that day. Even after being elected on Nov. 5, Alsobrooks reported raising $92,886.

Hogan, who is expected to weigh a possible challenge to Moore in 2026, spent more than $11.5 million from his principal campaign committee, which retained $403,137 as of Nov. 25. Hogan reported loaning his campaign $500,000 on Oct. 31, less than a week before Election Day.

But both candidates had joint campaign funds and also benefited from millions of dollars in spending from outside groups. The most striking was $30.6 million from a Republican PAC called Maryland’s Future, which was largely funded from well-known GOP donors from across the country. The PAC funded an aggressive array of ads attacking Alsobrooks across multiple platforms, but she still wound up winning by almost 12 points.

Meanwhile, in the 6th District, the latest campaign finance reports show that Delaney continued to fund her campaign through the day before the election, when she dropped $148,000 of her own money into the race. In all, Delaney invested more than $3.8 million of her own money in the race, including almost $1.3 million between Oct. 17 and Nov. 4.

Delaney, a lawyer and former U.S. Commerce Department official, spent almost $5.8 million on her campaign and reported $93,033 in her campaign account as of Nov. 25. In the most competitive House district in the state, she could be targeted by Republicans in 2026, though with Donald Trump entering the White House in January, the next midterm election is, at this early stage, expected to favor Democrats.

Parrott, who lost three straight congressional races in the 6th District, spent over $1.1 million on the campaign, and had just $2,914 in the bank on Nov. 25.