Money isn’t everything in politics — just ask Thomas Massie and John Cornyn 

The 2026 primary season has delivered yet another lesson that political pundits, campaign finance regulators, and losing candidates seem stubbornly unwilling to learn. 

Money doesn’t buy elections. 

Consider two recent, headline-making races. 

In Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, Rep. Thomas Massie lost the most expensive House primary in American history, to Ed Gallrein. Pro-Gallrein forces outspent pro-Massie forces roughly $18 million to $14 million. Massie himself was quick to blame outside money, particularly from pro-Israel groups. But as University of Kentucky political scientist Stephen Voss put it, it was Massie’s “already waning support from Trump voters and President Donald Trump himself” that likely cost him his seat.   

Still, a $4 million disparity in a House race is no small matter. Surely, this proves that money determines who wins, right? 

Not so fast. In Texas, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and groups supporting him poured extraordinary resources into his Senate primary against Attorney General Ken Paxton. Cornyn’s allies spent a whopping  $45 for every vote he received, while Paxton’s side spent $8.  

The result? Paxton won by 28 points. 

Cornyn joins a long list of candidates who lost to more modestly funded opponents. Mike Bloomberg spent more than $1 billion of his own money on a roughly 100-day presidential campaign in 2020, winning only a single contest (American Samoa) and earning 55........

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