Just 53 political corporations spent a whopping $41,622,820.18 in just one week in their effort to directly influence the outcome of the 2010 congressional races. The $41.6 million in independent expenditures by these corporations during the week of October 3-9, 2010 approximately doubles the $21.2 million spent on independent expenditures in the congressional campaigns the week before. Thanks to new Supreme Court rulings, Americans are forbidden from finding out who funded these corporations, so it’s impossible to ascribe them motivations, but we can at the least track their behavior. Let’s use available Federal Election Commission data to take a closer look at independent expenditures during this most recent week of the campaign.

In the week from Sunday October 3 to Saturday October 29, $16,408,242 was spent in opposition to Democratic congressional candidates and $5,207,650 was spent in support of Republican congressional candidates, for a total of $21,615,892 spent to promote the Republican electoral cause (an increase of $7,575,649 over the previous week). On the other side, $2,382,779 was spent in support of Democratic congressional candidates and $17,622,941 was spent in opposition to Republican congressional candidates, for a total of $20,005,720 spent to promote the Democratic electoral cause (an increase of $12,924,853 over the previous week). Because Democratic-side spending grew more quickly than Republican-side spending, the gap between pro-Republican and pro-Democratic independent expenditures shrank from a $6,959,376 net advantage for the previous week down to a $1,610,172 net advantage for Republicans.

The Club for Growth covered mail costs (mysteriously reporting a $0 expenditure) in a mail campaign against former Republican, current independent candidate for Senator Charlie Crist; no other independent expenditures for or against third-party candidates were reported. As was the case in the two weeks before, only one group — the National Realtors Association — made independent expenditures to support both Democrats and Republicans. All other groups remained strictly partisan in their activities.

The Five Biggest Independent Expenditures in Congressional Races, Week of October 3-9 2010

1. $1,065,931 spent by Karl Rove‘s American Crossroads on October 5 for a TV spot attacking the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Illinois, Alexi Giannoulias.

2. $785,366.20 spent by the Karl Rove’s American Crossroads on October 5 for a TV spot attacking Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington State.

3. $768,499 spent by Karl Rove’s American Crossroads on October 5 for a TV advertisement attacking Democratic Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado.

4. $758,537.00 spent by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on October 5 to purchase a TV advertisement attacking Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Illinois, Mark Kirk.

5. $750,000 spent by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees on October 6 for a television advertisement opposing Reid Ribble, the Republican candidate for Wisconsin’s 8th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Five Biggest Spenders in Independent Expenditures, Week of October 3-9 2010

1. National Republican Congressional Committee: $8,383,958.26 (R)
2. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee: $8,127,992.69 (D)
3. Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee: $4,636,448.93 (D)
4. Karl Rove’s American Crossroads/Crossroads Grassroots: $4,377,841.06 (R)
5. National Rifle Association: $3,134,383.26 (100% R)

Naming Names: the 53 Political Corporations Expending that $41.6 million on Campaigns Last Week

Note: the following list consolidates groups run by the same people at the same headquarters in the same effort: (such as Club for Growth and Club for Growth Action, or American Crossroads and Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies)