WASHINGTON: The November 7 congressional race will be the most expensive midterm election, with spending reaching some $2.6 billion, a non-partisan group that tracks US campaign spending said Tuesday.

The year “2006 will be the most election for US Congress ever,” said Sheila Krumholz, acting executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics which tracks the influence of money on polls and public policy.

The group’s research has found that spending by candidates in the November 2006 race represents an 18 percent increase over the last midterm congressional election in 2002.

“Money in this campaign has been flowing fast and furiously,” said Krumholz in a telephone news conference. She said the $2.6-billion spending projection is a “conservative estimate” which could turn out to be even higher by Election Day.

“Candidates still in the running for House have raised on average about $760,000, while Senate candidates have raised $5.8 million since 2001,” Krumholz said of the study released exactly two weeks before Election Day.

“Incumbent senators have a four to one advantage over their current challengers on average; House incumbents have outraised their current challengers seven to one,” she said.

The biggest individual donors, in descending order according to the size of their contributions, are lawyers and law firms, the real estate industry, Wall Street and contributors who list their occupation as “retired.”

Private business and business interest groups account for about three-fourths of all contributions, the center said.

“The industries and interests funding the 2006 election have been big givers for years, and they’re building on their influence now. They’re making an investment they hope will pay off once the 110th Congress takes office in January,” Krumholz said.

“Corporate, union and ideological interests appear to be digging in to protect those already in office, although soon after Election Day, you can bet they’ll start writing checks to make friends with the incoming freshmen,” she said.—AFP