Here are the top 10 places Ohio candidates and PACs are spending campaign money


In Ohio politics, state-level candidates and PACs spent $59.24 million between Jan. 1, 2021, and Apr. 13, 2022. More than $10.65 million or 17.98 percent of all campaign finance expenditures went to the 10 payees at the top of the list. 

A payee is an entity or individual who has received money from a campaign account. Candidates and PACs must report campaign expenditures, including payments to vendors, donations to other campaign accounts, and bank transfers, to the Ohio Secretary of State.

Top 10 Ohio payees (1/1/2021 – 4/13/2022)

Here are the top 10 recipients of Ohio campaign money in the 2022 election cycle, as of the most recent reports. 

RankPayee Name Total Received
1.SRCP Media Inc$2,352,953.88
2.Al Media$1,633,120.00
3.Sage Media$1,202,723.10
4.Ascent Media LLC$1,108,185.84
5.Advanced Micro Targeting Inc$1,050,000.00
6.Left Hook Communications$1,000,000.00
7.Paychex$715,733.82
8.National Payment Corporation$576,729.83
9.Minnesota Democratic Farm Labor Party$560,000.00
10.Red Brick Strategies$451,001.96

Total Expenditures in nine states during the 2022 election cycle

Campaign finance expenditures vary widely among state-level candidates and PACs. A number of factors, including state-specific campaign finance regulations, influence how expenditure activity varies across states. Here is how total campaign finance expenditures in Ohio compared to eight other states with data available from Transparency USA for the 2022 election cycle:

Comparison of total expenditures, by state

RankStateTotal ExpendituresReporting Period
1Texas$337,432,3511/1/2022 – 2/19/2022
2Pennsylvania$319,374,3891/1/2022 – 3/9/2022
3Florida$302,254,1341/1/2022 – 2/28/2022
4Michigan$71,971,7871/1/2022 – 4/20/2022
5Arizona63,716,6171/1/2022 – 3/31/2022
6Ohio$59,240,3971/1/2022 – 4/13/2022
7Wisconsin$34,706,0221/1/2022 – 3/21/2022
8Indiana$32,159,3981/1/2022 – 4/8/2022
9North Carolina$22,543,0371/1/2022 – 12/31/2021

The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active Ohio PACs submitted to the Ohio Secretary of State. Transparency USA publishes campaign finance data following major reporting deadlines. State or federal law may require filers to submit additional reports.

Report NameReport Due Date
2021 Annual1/31/2022
2022 Pre-Primary4/21/2022
2022 Post-Primary6/10/2022
2022 Semiannual7/29/2022
2022 Pre-General10/27/2022
2022 Post-General12/16/2022

This article is a joint publication from Ballotpedia and Transparency USA, who are working together to provide campaign finance information for state-level elections. Learn more about our work here.