Presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump together spent a record $3.5 billion on their election campaigns, making the 2024 election the most expensive in US history, reports the Financial Times.

The newspaper noted that about $4.2 billion were collected, including contributions from party committees and outside groups.

As the journalists write, Harris was able to get more funds than Trump, collecting more than $2.3 billion through the Democratic National Committee, supergroups, and so-called Super Pacs, which can receive unlimited donations from individuals. Of that amount, $1.9 billion have already been spent.

Trump's team collected a little more than $1.8 billion, of which $1.6 billion were spent. About half of all those funds were spent on advertising, especially in seven states that are considered key to the outcome of the election.

Harris' campaign spent more than $1 billion on advertising in the aforesaid states, while total advertising spending in swing states was about $1.5 billion. In particular, more than $400 million were spent in Pennsylvania alone, where there are 19 electoral college votes.

A significant portion of Trump's campaign budget was allocated to legal expenses related to his lawsuits. As the journalists assure, more than $100 million were spent on it, which is 14 percent of all expenses. These expenses were partially covered by the Republican Party and supergroups, such as Elon Musk-funded America Pac, for which he had donated about $118 million.