Primary election
A vote in which a party’s voters, or in some states all voters, narrow the field to nominees for the general election.
Glossary
Election and campaign finance terms, explained
Plain-language definitions of the words used on this site: money, offices, forecasts, polls and how we label our data.
Campaign finance
Receipts (money raised)
The total a campaign reports receiving in a filing period: contributions from individuals and committees, transfers and loans. It is what was reported to the FEC, not money that has been spent.
Disbursements (money spent)
What a campaign reports paying out in a filing period: advertising, staff, travel, fees and other costs.
Cash on hand
The balance a campaign reports at the end of a filing period: money raised minus money spent, as reported.
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
The independent federal agency that publishes the campaign finance reports of House, Senate and presidential candidates and committees. Most money figures on this site come from its public data.
Filing period
Campaigns report to the FEC on a schedule, so two candidates’ totals may run through different dates. Every figure on this site shows the period it covers.
PAC (political action committee)
An organization that raises and spends money to support or oppose candidates. Many are connected to a company, a union or a trade association.
Super PAC
A committee that may raise unlimited amounts from individuals and organizations to support or oppose candidates, but may not give money to a campaign or coordinate with it. Formally an “independent-expenditure-only committee”.
Independent expenditure (outside spending)
Money a group spends to support or oppose a candidate without coordinating with the campaign. It is reported to the FEC within 24 or 48 hours, so totals change quickly.
Itemized contribution
A contribution from one person that adds up to more than $200 in an election cycle. The donor’s name, state and employer are then listed in the FEC filing.
Small-dollar contribution
Money from donors who gave $200 or less in total. It is not itemized, so the FEC reports it as one sum without donor details.
Candidate contributions and loans
Money a candidate puts into their own campaign, as a gift or as a loan the campaign owes back.
Debts owed
Money a campaign reports that it still owes, for example loans or unpaid bills, at the end of a filing period.
Elections
General election
The November election that decides who holds an office. In 2026 it is on November 3.
Top-two primary
A primary in which all candidates run on one ballot and the two with the most votes advance to the general election, whatever their party. California and Washington use it.
Runoff
A second election between the top finishers when no candidate reached the required share of the vote.
Midterm election
A general election held halfway through a president’s four-year term. All 435 House seats and about a third of the Senate are on the ballot.
Special election
An election held outside the normal schedule, usually to fill a seat that became vacant.
Nominee
A candidate chosen to represent a party in the general election. Independent candidates run without a party nomination.
Incumbent
The person who currently holds the office. An open seat is one where the incumbent is not running.
Congressional district
The area whose voters elect one member of the U.S. House. A state with one seat for the whole state has an at-large district.
Redistricting
Redrawing district boundaries, which most states do after each census and some states have done again for 2026. Results from before a new map describe the old territory.
Ballot measure
A question on the ballot decided directly by voters: a constitutional amendment, a citizen initiative or a referendum on a law.
Ranked-choice voting
Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and if nobody wins a majority of first choices, the lowest candidates are dropped and their ballots count for the next choice. Alaska and Maine use it for general elections to Congress.
Electoral College
The system that chooses the president: voters pick electors in each state, and a candidate needs 270 of the 538 electoral votes.
Forecasts, ratings and polls
Race rating
A forecaster’s own call on a race, from Safe through Likely, Lean and Tilt to Toss-up, for one party. Ratings are opinions with a date, not results.
Consensus rating
On this site, the median of the ratings that the listed forecasters give a race. We show it next to each rater’s own call and note where raters disagree.
Prediction market
A market where people trade contracts on an outcome; the price can be read as a probability. Prices move with trading and can be thin in small markets.
Generic ballot
A poll question asking which party a voter would back for Congress, without naming candidates.
Poll sample and margin of error
A poll asks a sample of people; the margin of error is how far the result could be from the whole population because of sampling alone. A “lead” smaller than the margin may not be a real lead.
Likely voters and registered voters
Pollsters report some polls for likely voters (LV) and others for registered voters (RV). Likely-voter polls try to describe people who will actually vote.
DW-NOMINATE
A statistical scale of how a member of Congress votes on roll calls, from about −1 (one end of the spectrum) to +1. It describes voting behaviour and is not a judgement.
About our data
Reported and estimate
A figure marked Reported comes from a government filing or an official source. A figure marked Estimate is a forecast, rating, market price or survey estimate. We never mix the two.
Verified race
A race whose list of November nominees is internally consistent across our sources. For races we have not verified, we do not claim who is on the November ballot.
Source and date
Every number on the site shows where it comes from and when it was last updated. Where sources disagree, we show both and say so.
Definitions are our own plain-language summaries of public rules. For legal detail see the FEC’s guidance. How we use these terms is on the methodology page.