Follow The Money

Since the passage of campaign-reform laws in the 1970s, the average amount spent by a winning candidate for a seat in the House of Representatives has risen from less than $88,000 in 1976 to more than $556,000 in 1992. Over the same 16 years, the average price of a U.S. Senate seat has gone up sixfold, to $3.6 million. In the 1,332 races in which incumbents have sought re-election since 1986, only seven challengers have won without spending at least $250,000. Part of this inflationary spiral can be blamed on the increased use of expensive TV ads, but much of it is the result of a growing reliance on political-action committees (PACS), blessed by Congress to funnel contributions from special-interest groups to political candidates. In recent years PACS have provided about half the money raised in House races, and a * third of that raised in the Senate's. Businesses control about two-thirds of the PAC money; labor unions account for roughly one-fifth, with ideological PACS providing most of the rest. In most cases, the causes represented by PACS are national, not local.

This year congressional campaign spending is likely to set new records. In the chart below, TIME on Capitol Hill offers a comparison of the amounts raised by the leading congressional candidates seeking your vote on Nov. 8.

CHART: NOT AVAILABLE

CREDIT: NO CREDIT

CAPTION: Who's Running . . . and with How Much