Even before presidential candidates started lining up billionaires to kickstart their campaigns, it was clear that the 2016 election could be the biggest big-money election yet.
This chart from the political data shop Crowdpac illustrates where we may be headed: Between 1980 and 2012, the share of federal campaign contributions coming from the very, very biggest political spenders–the top 0.01 percent of donors–nearly tripled: In other words, about 1,200 Americans control more than 40 percent of election contributions. Notably, between 2010 and 2012, the total share of giving by these donors jumped more than 10 percentage points.
