WASHINGTON — Michigan’s 2026 U.S. Senate race is already one of the most expensive in American history, and spending is only expected to accelerate ahead of Election Day.

With less than a week until the Nov. 3 election, the candidates and their allies have already spent more than $400 million on television ads, mail, campaign staff, travel, rallies and more.

The end total could approach $500 million and has already shattered the previous state record for a race, set by the $222 million spent on Michigan’s competitive 2024 U.S. Senate contest.

The Detroit News continues to track the money in this year’s general election contest between Republican former congressman Mike Rogers of White Lake Township and Democratic former public health official Abdul El-Sayed of Ann Arbor.

This page will continuously update with the latest information filed by the campaigns and allied groups.

Some of the biggest names throwing money into the race include tech billionaire Elon Musk, rapper Macklemore, financial executive Charles Schwab (no relation to the author of this page), auto racing tycoon Roger Penske, and the DeVos family, a clan of west Michigan billionaires.

Rogers benefited from running unopposed in the GOP primary earlier, whereas El-Sayed fought a bruising primary against U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow of Royal Oak. He managed to win that race despite being heavily outspent.

Who has the money advantage?

Since the start of 2025, Rogers and outside groups supporting him have outspent El-Sayed and his allies by roughly 3:2, according to disclosures submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

The latest public spending reports from the Rogers and El-Sayed campaigns cover through October 15, though outside groups must file disclosures on an ongoing basis.

Since Michigan’s primary election on Aug. 4, outside independent expenditure groups have spent more than $170 million on pro-Rogers and anti-Abdul ads. Groups aligned with El-Sayed have spent almost $95 million during that time.

El-Sayed, though he trails in outside support, has shown far better individual fundraising prowess than Rogers.

Who are the high-profile donors to Mike Rogers, Abdul El-Sayed?

El-Sayed’s campaign had raised $53.8 million as of Oct. 15, which beats Rogers by $30.9 million. The Democratic candidate received more direct contributions from itemized ($200 or more) in-state donors, itemized out-of-state donors and small-dollar donors (whose names and locations are not made public).

Some of the highest-profile max donors to El-Sayed include:

• Seattle-based rapper Macklemore, who gave under his legal name Ben Haggerty
• Jon Favreau, a former Obama speechwriter and co-founder of the Pod Save America podcast
• Jennifer Pritzker, a cousin of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and member of the billionaire Pritzker family
• Andrew Dudum, founder and CEO of telehealth startup Hims & Hers Health, Inc.

Some of the highest-profile max donors to Rogers include:

• Six members of the DeVos family, heirs to the Amway Corp. fortune
• Michigan automotive racing tycoon Roger Penske
• Michigan businessman Tom Monaghan, who founded Domino’s Pizza
• Louis DeJoy, the former postmaster general of the United States appointed during President Donald Trump’s first term
• Jim and Rob Walton, sons of Walmart founder Sam Walton
• Financial executive Charles Schwab

Campaign cash — as opposed to outside spending support — has historically been especially valuable to candidates, who are required under federal law to receive cheaper rates when purchasing television ad time. That would have previously been a boon for El-Sayed, but a recent policy change dulled that perk.

Political party committees, thanks to a change by the Trump administration, now also get that cost advantage. The change will help Rogers and other Republicans in 2026, as their party has more funds on hand than national Democratic groups.

How much are outside groups (PACs) spending?

Rogers has a sizable advantage when it comes to spending from political action committees (PACs), which can donate limited amounts of money directly to political candidates, and independent expenditure-only committees (super PACs), which can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money but cannot donate directly to candidates.

Eight of the top 10 outside spenders — including four of the top five — are supporting Rogers. The biggest outside spending group in Michigan’s U.S. Senate primary is United Democracy Project, an offshoot of the pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

UDP spent more than $20 million to oppose El-Sayed in the Democratic primary but has since scaled back spending. At first, Rogers reportedly expressed “significant” reservations about accepting advertising support from AIPAC, though he did attend three of the group’s fundraising events in August. He later said he welcomes the group’s support.

America PAC, one of the largest pro-Rogers groups, is financed by tech mogul Elon Musk. The Tesla CEO is the richest person in the world and was heavily involved in Trump’s 2024 election bid.

The full list of outside groups backing Rogers is available in the table below.

The full list of outside groups backing El-Sayed is available below.

gschwab@detroitnews.com

@GrantSchwab

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan’s US Senate race breaks all records for spending

Reporting by Grant Schwab, The Detroit News / The Detroit News

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