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Check Out the Most Expensive House and Senate Races

Sen. Kay Hagan speaks to a crowd Oct. 29, 2014, during a campaign event at the Four Seasons Restaurant and Convention Center in Rocky Mount, N.C.
Adam Jennings/The Rocky Mount Telegram/AP Photo

October 30, 2014, 3:08 PM

 -- Elections are getting more expensive by the year.

The 2014 congressional elections, though seemingly less intense and animated than their recent, wave-election predecessors in 2006 and 2010, are on pace to cost more than any midterm elections ever.

The 2014 House and Senate races will cost at least $3.67 billion, more than the $2.9 billion spent on House and Senate races in 2006 and slightly edging the $3.6 billion spent in 2010, but ranking just below the $3.7 billion spent on congressional races in the presidential-election year of 2012, the Center for Responsive Politics estimates.

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The real number will likely be higher. Because of gaps in disclosure requirements, nonprofit groups like the conservative, Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity were able to spend money on "issue ads," which didn't directly tell voters to support or oppose a candidate, for most of the year without reporting them to federal campaign-finance regulators.

The Center for Responsive Politics estimates that "well over" $100 million in 2014 will have gone undisclosed, not counting toward that $3.67 billion total.

So where's all this money going? Here are the most expensive House and Senate races, as compiled by the center. As campaigns and outside groups hurriedly file disclosure reports between now and Election Day, these numbers will change, so check this page for a running list.

MOST EXPENSIVE SENATE RACES

1. North Carolina - Tillis (R) vs. Hagan (D) - $113M

2. Colorado - Gardner (R) vs. Udall (D) - $94M

3. Iowa - Ernst (R) vs. Braley (D) - $82M

4. Kentucky - McConnell (R) vs. Grimes (D) - $78M

5. Georgia - Perdue (R) vs. Nunn (D) - $65M

6. Arkansas - Cotton (R) vs. Pryor (D) - $58M

7. Alaska - Sullivan (R) vs. Begich (D) - $58M

8. New Hampshire - Brown (R) vs. Shaheen (D) - $47M

9. Michigan - Land (R) vs. Peters (D) - $47M

10. Louisiana - Cassidy (R) vs. Landrieu (D) - $42M

Source: OpenSecrets.org/Center for Responsive Politics