2025-2026 Federal Contribution Limits: Exact Dollar Figures

For the 2025-2026 federal election cycle, an individual may give $3,500 per candidate per election under 52 U.S.C. 30116(a)(1)(A) (Federal Register), a national party committee may receive $44,300 per year from an individual under 52 U.S.C. 30116(a)(1)(B) (Federal Register), and a national party committee together with its Senatorial campaign committee may give $62,000 per campaign to a candidate for U.S. Senate under 52 U.S.C. 30116(h) (Federal Register). These are the inflation-adjusted figures the Federal Election Commission published in the Federal Register on January 30, 2025, and each carries its own effective window under federal law.

This original record-reading guide is a general reading aid, not cited evidence. It does not depict a source record; the article text and source links provide the facts.

Key points

• The base statutory limit under 52 U.S.C. 30116(a)(1)(A) is $2,000; the inflation-adjusted figure for this cycle is $3,500, per the Federal Register notice (Federal Register).
• The base statutory limit under 52 U.S.C. 30116(a)(1)(B) is $25,000; the inflation-adjusted figure is $44,300, per the Federal Register notice (Federal Register).
• The base statutory limit under 52 U.S.C. 30116(h) is $35,000; the inflation-adjusted figure is $62,000, per the Federal Register notice (Federal Register).
• The $3,500 (a)(1)(A) figure runs on its own two-year election-cycle clock, not the calendar-year clock that governs the other two figures (Federal Register).
• The FEC’s own contribution limits page confirms these are the figures for “Contribution limits for 2025-2026 federal elections” (FEC).

Per-election limit

Under 52 U.S.C. 30116(a)(1)(A), the base amount an individual may contribute to a candidate per election is $2,000. Indexed for inflation, that figure is $3,500 for this cycle, per the Federal Register notice (Federal Register).

This figure runs on a distinct election-cycle window rather than the calendar year. The Federal Register notice states: “The new limitation at 52 U.S.C. 30116(a)(1)(A) applies beginning on November 6, 2024” (Federal Register), and further specifies: “Thus the $3,500 figure above is in effect from November 6, 2024, to November 3, 2026” (Federal Register).

Annual party-committee limit

Under 52 U.S.C. 30116(a)(1)(B), the base amount an individual may give to a national party committee account is $25,000 per year. Indexed for inflation, that figure is $44,300 for this cycle, per the Federal Register notice (Federal Register). See below for when this figure applies.

Party-to-Senate limit

Under 52 U.S.C. 30116(h), the base amount a national party committee and its Senatorial campaign committee may together give, combined per campaign, to a candidate for U.S. Senate is $35,000. Indexed for inflation, that figure is $62,000 for this cycle, per the Federal Register notice (Federal Register). The FEC’s own contribution limits page states this directly: “A national party committee and its Senatorial campaign committee may contribute up to $62,000 combined per campaign to each Senate candidate” (FEC). See below for when this figure applies.

Effective-date windows

Unlike the per-election limit above, the $44,300 and $62,000 figures run on a fixed two-year odd-year-to-even-year window. The notice states: “The limitations under 52 U.S.C. 30116(a)(1)(B) and 30116(h) shall be in effect beginning January 1st of the odd-numbered year and ending on December 31st of the next even-numbered year” (Federal Register). Applied to the current odd-year/even-year pair, that means these two figures apply from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2026.

The FEC’s own contribution limits page, titled “Contribution limits for 2025-2026 federal elections” (FEC), marks these inflation-adjusted figures with the note “*Indexed for inflation in odd-numbered years” (FEC), consistent with the Federal Register’s odd-year-to-even-year window.

What this article does not cover

This article covers only the three contribution-limit figures above and their effective dates. The same Federal Register notice also sets the coordinated party expenditure limits and the lobbyist bundling disclosure threshold, but those figures are outside the scope of this piece. Readers looking for those figures, or for anything beyond the individual, national-party, and Senate-campaign contribution limits described here, should consult the FEC directly.

Source links

• https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/30/2025-01941/price-index-adjustments-for-contribution-and-expenditure-limitations-and-lobbyist-bundling
• https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/candidate-taking-receipts/contribution-limits/