Candidates for national office (presidency and congress) spent approximately on their campaigns in 2012.

The Center for Responsive Politics estimated the total spending in 2012 at over six billion dollars.

The 2016 election cost total went up even further, to 6.5 billion dollars. 

In less than 20 years, the amount spent on national elections in the United States has seen a fourfold increase.  The estimated total spent in 1998 during that year's national election cycle was 1.6 billion dollars.