Spending for the U.S. House race in Alaska is over $40 million, putting it at the top of the list of the most expensive House races in the country.

Fundraising efforts by Democrat Mary Peltola and Republican Nick Begich have not been slow. Together, they have raised a total of more than $13 million, with Peltola, the incumbent, outselling Begich five to one.

But that total is dwarfed by the $28 million coming from political committees and other groups that buy their own ads and otherwise try to persuade you to vote for or against one of the Alaska candidates voices. The independent spending total isn't just high compared to what the candidates have raised. At the national level it's big.

“I was actually really shocked that Alaska is the fourth race this cycle in terms of super PAC spending,” said Sarah Bryner, research director at OpenSecrets, which tracks money in politics. “This is seen as an achievable victory for Republicans, and that's not common this cycle, and so they're going to do everything they can to get this victory, assuming that they'll have some of theirs in other places as well.” will lose the race.” ”

The Democrats are trying just as hard to keep the seat.

The money is an indicator of how uncertain the outcome of the Alaska race is and how important each seat is in a closely divided Congress. Alaska is not a swing state in the presidential election, but could take control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The external expenses are almost evenly distributed between Peltola and Begich. It amounts to more than $13 million for each site, most of which is spent on negative advertising.

Bryner noted something else interesting about the outside groups spending money on the Alaska race: Most are part of the national party infrastructure, like the Republican and Democratic congressional campaign committees.

“It's actually pretty crazy that the funding for this comes almost entirely from party committees or associated super PACs. Because that’s not normal,” she said. “Usually there's another PAC involved, an interest or, you know, the oil industry or something like that. But that’s clearly just the two parties arguing over who gets this seat and very little other issues.”

(The “other” donors, however, also include some big money. Vote Alaska Before Party, which is pushing for Peltola's re-election and previously helped Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, has more than $8 million for the House election 2024. And Fairshake PAC representing the cryptocurrency industry has spent almost $2 million to promote Peltola.)

The other reason the Alaska race attracts so much money is that there aren't many other races worth investing in. Valdosta State University political science professor Bernard Tamas said this is a trend that has been building for 50 years.

“It's gotten really extreme, with only a handful of districts that the major parties actually see as competitive,” he said.

Gerrymandering is a factor, he said. In many states with large populations, district lines are intentionally drawn to favor one party or the other.

“But there are a number of others that could be even larger in terms of the causes that lead to this,” he said, citing demographics, education and economic disparities.

He said voters tend to group themselves into ideologically similar areas when looking for work, choosing to live in urban or rural communities.

But Alaska, with its only U.S. House seat, cannot be nominated for a federal election, and its House representative represents people across the spectrum.