Financing the 2020 Election

Abstract

Much has changed in the sixty years since the 1960 election, but every four years, readers have been able to count on a single volume to provide a detailed examination of federal campaign finance. Financing the 2020 Election is the latest in this series, providing a full picture of raising and spending by campaigns, parties, and outside actors—all in an election cycle both disrupted and shaped by a global pandemic and a polarizing president at the top of the ticket.

Edited by Molly E. Reynolds and John C. Green and Molly Reynolds, the book draws on detailed data from the Federal Election Commission and analysis by a range of campaign finance experts. The chapters provide both overall context for the landscape of campaign finance regulation in 2020 and examine a different aspect of the 2020 cycle, including the presidential contest; congressional races; and the role of the political parties. A concluding chapter places the entire campaign in context and offers suggestions for reform.

Together, the analysis in the volume gives readers a single source for a complete picture of how the 2020 elections were financed—and how those dynamics fit into the broader landscape of American politics.