2016 Presidential Race

The contest to become the 45th president of the United States marks the first race since 2008 in which there's no incumbent on the ballot. That, of course, was a historic election, bringing the nation its first black commander in chief. In 2016, American voters could again make history by electing the first female president, or the first with Cuban parents, or the first whose father and brother have also been presidents – or maybe the first with multiple super PACs and dark money groups working exclusively to get him or her elected.

The 2016 race started early with a large field of potential candidates, some of whom acted very much like, well, candidates — making appearances in early primary states, vying for commitments from big donors and assembling teams that could quickly pivot and become campaign staff. Meanwhile, constellations of groups working on behalf of each of the most serious White House hopefuls – including leadership PACs, super PACs, 501(c)(4) dark money outlets and more – cropped up like spring flowers, all but inviting spending records to be broken.

(Darker bar represents outside money; lighter bar represents candidate committee money)

Candidate Photo	Candidate Name	Total Raised	Bar Chart
	Hillary Clinton (D)	$57,748,407 $130,443,637
	Ted Cruz (R)	$46,726,605 $54,661,506
	Bernie Sanders (D)	$44,968 $96,311,423
	Ben Carson (R)	$13,807,549 $57,860,505
	Marco Rubio (R)	$34,313,903 $34,652,654
	Donald Trump (R)	$1,894,509 $25,526,319
	John Kasich (R)	$6,729,311 $8,648,890
	Jill Stein (3)	$0 $300,421

See data for also-ran candidates