Super PAC
US committee that may raise and spend without limit but cannot coordinate with candidates.
super PACs carry most of the outside money in the 2026 midterms. By 30 September TEXAS PAC had reported $131.5m of spending in the Texas Senate race alone, with its donors hidden until its first full report on 15 October.
Last refreshed: 1 October 2026
Timeline for Super PAC
Mentioned in: Texas PAC's Senate spending hits $131.5m
US Midterms 2026Mentioned in: Ohio Senate race draws $44.1m in a week
US Midterms 2026Mentioned in: Nine Republican PACs file $164m of $259m
US Midterms 2026Mentioned in: No Going Back PAC spends $29.2m in week
US Midterms 2026Mentioned in: Court ruling could break the firewall
US Midterms 2026Background
super PACs are the main vehicle for outside money in the 2026 midterms. In The Week to 30 September, Republican-side committees accounted for $164m of the 300 largest independent-expenditure filings, and Senate races took the nine biggest slots.
A Super PAC, formally an independent expenditure-only committee, may take unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, unions and other political committees to fund independent expenditures. It may not coordinate with a candidate. It files 48-hour reports for spending of $10,000 or more up to the 20th day before an election, and 24-hour reports for $1,000 or more after that. Donors appear only on periodic reports, so a new committee can spend heavily before naming any donor.
The form exists because of SpeechNow.org v. FEC, decided by the D.C. Circuit on 26 March 2010, and two FEC advisory opinions of 22 July 2010. In the 2023-24 cycle the FEC counted 2,526 super PACs, which received $5.1bn and spent $5.0bn.
Disclosure lags the spending by weeks
A Super PAC must report large independent spending within 24 or 48 hours, but its donors appear only on periodic reports. TEXAS PAC shows what that gap allows. Its notice to the FEC on 30 September 2026 added $61.4m in one filing, almost doubling its total since 21 September to $131.5m in the Texas Senate race.
None of those funders will be public before its first full report on 15 October. Across the 300 largest filings in The Week to 30 September, Texas races took 31% of at least $259.2m reported. For voters in the state's most expensive contest, the ADS are on air well before anyone can see WHO paid for them.
Crypto money returns without the word crypto
Outside groups reported $44.1m of spending in Ohio's Senate race between 24 and 30 September 2026, and the biggest spender was Defend American Jobs at $11.46m. Almost all of it was split evenly between backing Senator Jon Husted and attacking Democrat Sherrod Brown.
The Washington Times links the committee to the crypto industry's Fairshake network. It had spent $40m backing Bernie Moreno at the same point in 2024, when Brown lost his seat. Its new adverts do not mention crypto. That is the Super PAC model at work: an industry can fund a race through a committee whose name and message say nothing about WHO stands behind it.