State ballot measure campaign finance analyses
This page compiles annual analyses of campaign finance for statewide ballot measures. Each year’s analysis shows how much campaigns raised across states for ballot measures and details how much supporters and opponents raised for each individual measure.
From 2015 to 2025, $6.5 billion was raised for and against state ballot measures. That's an average of $1.2 billion during even-numbered years and $109.8 million during odd-numbered years. During this period, the year with the most contributions was 2024, when $1.3 billion was received.
Between 2015 and 2025, California received the most campaign contributions of any state, totaling $2.9 billion—about 45% of all campaign contributions nationwide during that period.
Eight of the 10 most expensive ballot measures during this time were in California. The most expensive was California Proposition 27 (2022), which would have legalized online sports betting. The most expensive measure outside California was Florida Amendment 3 (2024), which would have legalized marijuana.
This page includes:
- a list of annual ballot measure campaign finance analyses;
- a list of state-specific campaign finance analyses;
- a comparison of contributions per year;
- a list of the 10 most expensive ballot measures;
- a list of the most expensive ballot measure in each state; and
- information on our campaign finance methodology.
Years
Click on a year to view that year’s state ballot measures campaign finance analysis.
- 2026
- 2025$183.2 million across 30 ballot measures
- 2024$1.3 billion across 159 ballot measures
- 2023$189.8 million across 41 ballot measures
- 2022$1.1 billion across 140 ballot measures
- 2021$107.6 million across 39 ballot measures
- 2020$1.2 billion across 129 ballot measures
- 2019$28.4 million across 36 ballot measures
- 2018$1.2 billion across 167 ballot measures
- 2017$108.8 million across 27 ballot measures
- 2016$932.3 million across 162 ballot measures
- 2015$40.8 million across 27 ballot measures
Comparison
The following table shows the total contributions, the average amount per measure, and the most expensive state ballot measure for each year from 2015 to 2025. Click the year in the first column to access that year's data.
States
Click on a state to view that state's ballot measures campaign contributions.
Click on a state below to view contributions to ballot measure campaigns in that state since 2015.
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Analyses
Most expensive ballot measures
The following is a list of the 10 state ballot measures that saw the most total contributions between 2015 and 2025.
Most expensive ballot measures by state
The following is a list of the most expensive state ballot measures in each state between 2015 and 2025.
Methodology
Ballotpedia provides campaign finance data for committees registered in support of and in opposition to each statewide ballot measure, as well as a selection of notable local ballot measures. Ballotpedia also provides a list of the top donors to each set of committees on each side of a ballot measure campaign.
Ballotpedia uses the official state or local government campaign finance system to view reports of expenditures and contributions, and bases campaign finance data from those official sources.
When funds are transferred between committees registered on the same ballot measure, Ballotpedia subtracts the amount from the giving committee and counts the amount once with the receiving committee to prevent double-counting.
When calculating total campaign contributions for a given year, Ballotpedia aggregates totals by committee rather than by measure. Because some committees are active on multiple measures, summing contributions by measure would inflate the total amount of money raised or spent.
See also
Footnotes
