(NewsNation) — The total cost of the 2022 state and federal midterm elections is projected to be more than $16.7 billion, data from an OpenSecrets analysis found.

According to the data, federal candidates and political committees are expected to spend $8.9 billion. State candidates, party committees and ballot measure committees are on track to raise $7.8 billion.

“No other midterm election has seen as much money at the state and federal levels as the 2022 elections,” Sheila Krumholz, OpenSecrets’ executive director, said in a statement. “We’re seeing record-breaking totals spent on elections up and down the ballot.”

Federal election-related spending has already beaten the 2018 midterm record of $7.1 billion, adjusted for inflation, while OpenSecrets projects that state-level candidates, party committees and ballot measure expenditures will top the estimated 2018 midterm spending record of $6.6 billion.

The Hill’s Niall Stanage said a lot of this money is coming from small donors, in addition to the “mega-donors” who give candidates and committees millions. There are a couple of factors leading to the large number of donations, he said on Morning in America.

“One is the sheer interest that we’re seeing — the voting numbers, the amount of activity and engagement,” Stanage said. “The other thing is that there are really big questions at stake in this election. You look down the list of the big issues, inflation, which is hitting pretty much every single American, but also things like crime, immigration, abortion rates — these are very fundamental topics that are being debated and that now, people get their chance to have their say on.”