Outside Groups Spent $213 Million in October on Elections

Advertising and advocacy for federal candidates

A cool $212.8 million.

It's enough to buy every resident of Flint, Mich., or Green Bay, Wis., a high-end LED flat screen television.

It's also how much the nation's outside political groups have spent from Oct. 1 through Tuesday to flood the airwaves, fill mailboxes, burn up the phones and otherwise directly advocate for or against federal political candidates as Election Day nears, according to a POLITICO analysis of federal campaign spending disclosures.