More money will be spent on the 2018 midterm House and Senate elections than ever, according to a new nonpartisan estimate.

The Center for Responsive Politics said late Wednesday that the elections will cost $5.2 billion, $1 billion more than in 2016, another record-shattering year.

It said that Democratic candidates are spending the most. So far they’ve spent $1 billion to $720 million for Republicans.

Democrats have also raised more, $1.3 billion to just less than $1 billion.

“We expected to see the numbers climb, as they typically do, but the astonishing spike in campaign donations is a solid indicator of the intensity driving this year’s campaigns,” said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics.

The Center’s report said spending by outside groups will be the highest ever and lots are going to Republicans.

“Republicans are leading in the outside money department, having benefited from approximately $343 million in outside spending compared to $248 million for Democrats. Outside spending, overall, is projected to be the highest-ever for a midterm election. More than $628 million has been spent by outside groups so far, compared to $421 million at this point in 2014,” said the report.

The bottom line, it added:

Utilizing historical spending growth data from the third quarter on, CRP’s model projects the total amount spent in the 2018 election will reach approximately $5.2 billion. CRP projects Democrats will spend nearly $300 million more than Republicans — $2.5 billion to $2.2 billion. If current trends continue, Blue will outspend Red for the first time in 10 years.