The U.S. Chamber of Commerce did not spend effectively on this year’s elections, losing more than 80% of the congressional races it invested in.

Of the 59 campaigns for the U.S. House and Senate that the Chamber tried to influence and that have been decided, only eight were won by the group’s favored candidates.

The Chamber’s scorecard for the Senate was particularly poor, winning only two out of 26 races. This despite spending $24 million on multiple races to defeat Democrats who wound up winning, including Timothy Kaine of Virginia ($4.4 million) and Sherrod Brown of Ohio ($4.3 million) and Bill Nelson of Florida ($3.8 million).

In the House, the Chamber won six out of 33 elections after spending $7 million.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

For U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Election Was a Money-Loser (by Jia Lynn Yang and Tom Hamburger, Washington Post)

US Chamber of Commerce Recipients, 2012 (OpenSecrets)

Is the Roberts Supreme Court in the Pocket of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce? (by Matt Bewig, AllGov)