Back in 1966 amid a Midterm election year when Republicans were still competitive in California, Democratic State Assembly Speaker Jesse "Big Daddy" Unruh coined the famous phrase, "money is the mother’s milk of politics." It proved prescient, as the influence of money in elections only grew in the decades that followed. Most notably, in 2010, the Supreme Court struck down Section 203 of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, that barred corporations, labor unions, and other organizations from paid "electioneering communications" in the landmark case, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
That decision effectively gave birth to the $100 million+ campaigns we know today. While conventional wisdom has long been that the candidate who raises big wins big, that seemingly objective truth only became more obvious in the post-Citizens United era as Super PACs—with their unlimited fundraising abilities—have flooded airwaves with political ads. That’s why many Democrats were sweating over the GOP’s two to one outside money advantage.
However, that advantage seems to be doing little to move the needle this time around. It’s been reported that despite spending half a billion dollars on campaigns a month ago, Republicans have seen little gain in election polling. That phenomenon sits downstream of another this Newsweek reporter has covered over the 2026 cycle of candidates with smaller balances winning races on account of superior campaign infrastructure.
By investing in person-to-person grassroots outreach and in-person events, candidates have been able to break out of a media ecosystem crowded with ads through direct contact with voters and earned coverage. These races offer evidence that Unruh’s statement may not hold the resonance of years past. The race that really kicked off this break with orthodoxy was the 2025 Democratic Primary for New York Mayor.
Zohran Mamdani, a once little-known state assemblyman, was facing off against Andrew Cuomo, a former governor and scion of one of New York’s most famed political dynasties. Cuomo and allied PACs outspent Mamdani and allies $31.5 million to $7.8 million. Even after Mamdani sealed the Democratic nomination, forcing Cuomo to run as an independent, that funding pace continued into the general election where Mamdani still won handsomely.
Cuomo’s strategy largely focused on running advertisements. Meanwhile, Mamdani secured a volunteer base of 50,000 that knocked on doors 1.6 million times, holding 247,000 conversations at those doors. During that period Mamdani built up a social media presence that now boasts several million followers on major platforms while earning media coverage for his leftist policies and insurgent campaign.
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