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Funding profile

Jeff Merkley

Democrat · Senator from Oregon

Career totals · 4 elections · 2008–2026

$37.9 million

raised by Merkley’s campaigns, everything from 2008 to 2026 added together.

11%

of it came from organized groups rather than from people giving on their own: at least $4.3 million from PACs, plus donations that organizations collected and directed.

$1.5 million

was spent about Merkley by outside groups. These are ads for or against them that their campaign cannot control, and none of it is part of the money above.

Every number on this page comes from Federal Election Commission filings, read on August 24, 2026. An election still under way keeps raising money, so its figure will have grown since. Check Merkley on FEC.gov

Where the money came from

Everything Merkley’s campaigns have reported raising, split by who gave it.

$37.9 millionraised
  • Individual donorsMoney given by people, in their own name.81%$30.8 million
  • Political action committeesOrganized groups: company-run committees, unions, trade associations.11%$4.3 million
  • Other sourcesParty transfers, the candidate's own money, loans and smaller categories.7%$2.8 million
Federal Election Commission filings across 4 elections. Percentages may not total 100 because each is rounded.

Money bundled through organizations

Not every “individual” donation arrives on its own. An organization can collect checks from its members, already earmarked for Merkley, and deliver them in a bundle. The law counts that as individual money, but the organization still chose where it went.

$67,000

reached Merkley this way, <1% of everything they raised from individuals. Each donation came from a real person. The organization picked who got it.

  • JStreetPAC$67,000

We can only count the organizations we have measured, so the real figure could be higher than this, never lower. Bundling is legal and widely used, and appearing here is not evidence of wrongdoing.

Who gave the most

Committee contributions from the 2024 and 2026 election periods, grouped by how the FEC classifies each giver. This covers a slice of the career total, and giving to a campaign is legal and ordinary.

  • Corporation2%$8,500
  • Trade association4%$20,000
  • Labor union25%$139,000
  • Membership organization11%$61,000
  • Unclassified59%$323,000

Largest committee givers

  1. 1American Association of Nurse PractitionersOther · Membership organization$15,000
  2. 2American Association of Nurse AnesthetistsOther · Membership organization$11,000
  3. 3United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Active Ballot ClubOther · Labor union$10,000
  4. 4Forward Together PACOther · Unclassified$10,000
  5. 5Oceans PACOther · Unclassified$10,000
Show all 10 giversShow fewer
  1. 6Turquoise PACOther · Unclassified$10,000
  2. 7GillibrandOther · Unclassified$10,000
  3. 8Alsobrooks Victory FundOther · Unclassified$10,000
  4. 9Health Jobs JusticeOther · Unclassified$10,000
  5. 10Van HollenOther · Unclassified$10,000

“Unclassified” means the FEC records no organization type for that committee, which usually means a leadership PAC. We show it as unclassified rather than guessing which industry it belongs to.

Money spent about this member

Outside groups, usually super PACs, may spend without limit on ads for or against a candidate, as long as they do not coordinate with the campaign. Merkley has no legal control over any of it.

This is not a donation. Nobody gave this money to Merkley. It was spent on advertising about Merkley, and money spent against a candidate is plainly not funding them. So it never gets added to the figures above.

$1.5 million

has been spent for or against Merkley by outside groups. $163,000 supported Merkley; $1.3 million opposed Merkley.

Largest outside spenders

Summed across 3 elections, using the Commission's aggregated totals so amended filings and 24-hour notices are not double-counted.

Spent supporting

$161,000

Ads urging people to vote for this member. Still not their money, and they cannot direct how it is spent.

  • HUMANE SOCIETY LEGISLATIVE FUND$133,000
  • HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN PAC$18,000
  • LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS ACTION FUNDThe political arm of the League of Conservation Voters, an environmental group that backs candidates it rates well on climate and conservation votes.$10,000

Spent opposing

$1.3 million

Ads urging people to vote against this member. This money was spent to defeat them.

  • FREEDOM PARTNERS ACTION FUND INC$1 million
  • AMERICAN FUTURE FUND POLITICAL ACTION$165,000
  • OPPORTUNITY ALLIANCE PAC$125,000
  • CONSERVATIVE MAJORITY FUND$18,000
Show all 5 groupsShow fewer
  • THE CONSERVATIVE STRIKEFORCE$6,319

Election by election

The career figures above are the sum of these elections. Each row links to the Commission’s page for that election, where the numbers match line for line.

ElectionRaisedFrom PACsOutside spending
2026in progress$7.9 million$532,000 7%$129FEC
2020$11.5 million$755,000 7%$1,468FEC
2014$12 million$2.3 million 19%$1.5 millionFEC
2008$6.5 million$708,000 11%noneFEC

Raised is everything the campaign took in for that election. From PACs is the slice of it given by political action committees. Outside spending is what other groups spent on ads about the race, for and against—it is not part of “Raised”. An election marked in progress is still raising money, so its figures are not final.

We never publish the names of individual donors, and anything we cannot source stays off the page. The methodology explains every such choice.