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A 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision opened the door to unlimited spending on elections. Did all that money have an impact on who won?
Here are the 10 most popular general elections in the U.S. Senate and House among super PACs and nonprofits and the results of those elections.
(Results through 10 a.m. ET Thursday on races called by AP.)
NATIONAL
| Rank | Race | Name | Total outside spending** | % Negative | Candidate spending | Winner |
| 1 | President | Barack Obama (D)* Mitt Romney (R) | $141.5 million $408.5 million | 68.9% 80.5% | $540.8 million $336.4 million | Obama |
SENATE
| Rank | Race | Name | Total outside spending** | % Negative | Candidate spending | Winner |
| 1 | Virginia | Tim Kaine (D) George Allen (R) | $21 million $29.8 million | 88.6% 93.9% | $18.6 million $11.5 million | Kaine |
| 2 | Wisconsin | Tammy Baldwin (D) Tommy Thompson (R) | $21.6 million $18.2 million | 87.6% 85.5% | $11.7 million $6 million | Baldwin |
| 3 | Ohio | Sherrod Brown (D)* Josh Mandel (R) | $14 million $20.7 million | 84.3% 80.0% | $19.5 million $12.9 million | Brown |
| 4 | Indiana | Joe Donnelly (D) Richard Mourdock (R) | $12 million $16.3 million | 95.9% 74.6% | $3.8 million $6.8 million | Donnelly |
| 5 | Nevada | Shelley Berkley (D) Dean Heller (R)* | $14.6 million $13.1 million | 90.7% 94.0% | $10.2 million $7.6 million | Heller |
| 6 | Montana | Jon Tester (D)* Denny Rehberg (R) | $12.8 million $11.9 million | 87.3% 97.0% | $11.6 million $7.2 million | Tester |
| 7 | Arizona | Richard Carmona (D) Jeff Flake (R) | $8.6 million $11.7 million | 98.4% 68.6% | $4.3 million $6.7 million | Flake |
| 8 | Florida | Bill Nelson (D)* Connie Mack (R) | $4.8 million $15.2 million | 76.2% 64.0% | $12.5 million $6.3 million | Nelson |
| 9 | North Dakota | Heidi Heitkamp (D) Rick Berg (R) | $8.5 million $7.6 million | 88.1% 78.0% | $4.1 million $4.7 million | Heitkamp |
| 10 | Missouri | Claire McCaskill (D)* Todd Akin (R) | $8.2 million $2.8 million | 81.2% 40.0% | $17.4 million $4.6 million | McCaskill |
* incumbent
HOUSE
| Rank | Race | Name | Total outside spending** | % Negative | Candidate spending | Winner |
| 1 | PA-12 | Mark Critz (D)* Keith Rothfus (R) | $4.1 million $6 million | 76.4% 76.3% | $2.1 million $1.5 million | Rothfus |
| 2 | OH-16 | Betty Sue Sutton (D) Jim Renacci (R)* | $5.2 million $4.6 million | 96.6% 97.0% | $1.6 million $2.5 million | Renacci |
| 3 | MN-8 | Rick Nolan (D) Chip Cravaack (R)* | $5.1 million $3.9 million | 90.8% 95.2% | $536,000 $1.2 million | Nolan |
| 4 | IL-17 | Cheri Bustos (D) Bobby Schilling (R)* | $4.3 million $4.6 million | 94.3% 95.6% | $1.4 million $1.9 million | Bustos |
| 5 | CA-7 | Ami Bera (D) Dan Lungren (R)* | $5.3 million $2.9 million | 90.0% 99.2% | $2.7 million $1.7 million | Bera |
| 6 | CA-52 | Scott Peters (D) Brian Bilbray (R)* | $3.6 million $4.6 million | 97.0% 87.1% | $3.5 million $2.1 million | Peters |
| 7 | CA-10 | Jose Hernandez (D) Jeff Denham (R)* | $3.6 million $4.4 million | 93.4% 97.5% | $1.4 million $2.2 million | Denham |
| 8 | TX-23 | Pete Gallego (D) Francisco Canseco (R)* | $4.5 million $2.8 million | 94.2% 95.5% | $1.5 million $1.9 million | Gallego |
| 9 | IL-12 | Williams Enyart (D) Jason Plummer (R) | $3.2 million $4.2 million | 88.5% 95.3% | $733,000 $903,000 | Enyart |
| 10 | IL-11 | Bill Foster (D) Judy Biggert (R)* | $2.5 million $4.7 million | 99.5% 71.1% | $1.8 million $1.7 million | Foster |
* incumbent
** Total represents combination of outside spending supporting candidate and outside spending opposing candidate’s opponent.
Source: Center for Responsive Politics, Federal Election Commission, Center for Public Integrity analysis. Expenditure totals for 2012 election through Nov. 5. Candidate spending totals through Oct. 17.