New York congressional races drew a staggering $308 million in spending during the 2026 midterm campaign, including roughly $64 million in the Empire State’s most closely watched battleground.
The contest for New York’s suburban 17th Congressional District in the Hudson Valley generated $64 million between a fiercely contested Democratic primary and the general election. The total includes spending by candidates’ campaigns and political action committees.
About $22 million was spent during the Democratic primary, in which military veteran and eventual winner Cait Conley defeated Beth Davidson and Peter Chatzky, according to campaign finance records. Outside groups also poured $30 million into the swing district, which encompasses portions of Westchester, Dutchess, Rockland and Putnam counties, filings show.
On Tuesday, Conley unseated two-term incumbent Rep. Mike Lawler, who had won reelection in 2024 even as Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris carried the 17th District.
The spending pushed the race far beyond the $38.4 million spent in New York’s 19th Congressional District in 2024, which was then the most expensive general election contest on record.
Several high-profile New York City primaries also ranked among the year’s most expensive contests, including the Manhattan battle to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler in the 12th District.
Democratic candidates and the groups supporting them spent $56 million in that race, records show. Super PACs, including Jobs and Democracy PAC and Think Big, accounted for the bulk of the spending, with $43 million invested in the contest.
Those groups received substantial backing from artificial intelligence companies and their leaders, who spent heavily in the June primary as concerns about the emerging technology resonated with Democratic voters. Democrat Micah Lasher ultimately won both the primary and the general election.
The race to succeed North Country Rep. Elise Stefanik in the 21st District was the third-most expensive overall. It included a bitter primary between eventual Republican nominee Anthony Constantino and GOP Assemblyman Robert Smullen.
Constantino went on to win a nail-biting general election against Democratic dairy farmer Blake Gendebien, despite Stefanik carrying the district by more than 20 points in each of the previous two cycles.
The Democratic-aligned House Majority PAC made a seven-figure advertising buy in the week before Election Day. Constantino, an Amsterdam-based chief executive of a sticker and decal manufacturing company, meanwhile invested $17 million of his own fortune in the race.
Democratic socialist star Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez faced no serious reelection challenge in the 14th Congressional District, but $26 million was still spent on the contest, making it New York’s fourth-most expensive House race.
Ocasio-Cortez, who is openly considering a presidential or Senate bid in 2028, had $18 million cash on hand as of mid-October.
The fifth-most expensive contest was the $20 million showdown in New York’s 3rd Congressional District between Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., and former Assemblyman Mike LiPetri, records show.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, like Ocasio-Cortez, faced no competitive challenge but still spent $19 million, according to filings.
Left-wing Democratic socialist challenger Darializa Aviles-Chevalier’s primary defeat of Rep. Adriano Espaillat in the 13th District ranked as the seventh-most expensive race, with approximately $15.4 million spent, records show.
