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How much did the National Association of Realtors spend on lobbying and elections in 2024?
Executive Summary
The data provided show conflicting totals for how much the National Association of Realtors (NAR) spent on lobbying and election activities in 2024: one set of reports places the combined total near $103–104 million, driven by an $86.3 million lobbying figure plus campaign spending, while other summaries drawn from OpenSecrets list substantially lower lobbying and contribution totals in the $15–18 million range with separate independent expenditures. These discrepancies arise from different data pulls, differing definitions of “lobbying” and “election‑related” spending, and aggregation choices across sources; the most recent media accounts (February 2025) emphasize the higher $86.3 million lobbying figure [1] [2] [3].
1. A headline split — Big number vs. small number and what each claims
Two narratives appear in the materials: one set reports that NAR was Washington’s top lobbying spender in 2024 with about $86.3 million on lobbying and roughly $17.5 million in political contributions, yielding a combined figure near $103.6–103.8 million [1] [4]. Another set, relying on OpenSecrets breakdowns, attributes far smaller direct lobbying and contribution totals to NAR in 2024—reporting $14.86 million in lobbying and $1.50 million in direct contributions, plus $1.79 million in outside spending, with a PAC total of $18.16 million when independent expenditures are included [3] [5]. Both portrayals are present in the source set, creating an immediate factual tension about the scale of NAR’s 2024 influence spending [1] [3].
2. Where the larger $86M+ figure comes from and how it’s presented
The February 2025 news pieces in the collection frame NAR as the largest single lobbying spender in 2024, citing roughly $86.3–86.4 million on lobbying and characterizing the organization’s activity as supporting pro‑Realtor candidates and Realtor political structures including RPAC and the Realtor Party; one article explicitly summates lobbying and electoral outlays to get a roughly $103.8 million total [1] [6] [2]. These reports are presented as recent and definitive within the dataset and emphasize the scale and political focus of NAR’s 2024 spending, implying widespread advocacy and election activity across federal, state, and local efforts [1] [2].
3. What the OpenSecrets summaries show and why their totals differ
OpenSecrets entries in the provided analyses give lower line items: a 2024 lobbying figure of about $14.86 million, direct contributions of roughly $1.50 million, additional outside spending of $1.79 million, and PAC/independent expenditures bringing a Total Spent around $18.16 million for NAR’s PAC vehicles [3] [5]. These OpenSecrets extracts treat lobbying filings, contribution records, and independent expenditures as distinct categories, producing smaller, category‑specific amounts. The OpenSecrets data cited by the sources therefore do not match the aggregated, headline figures reported by some news outlets in the dataset [3] [5].
4. Reconciling the gap — definitions, aggregation, and possible double counting
The materials themselves point to likely causes of the divergence without offering a single reconciled number: news reports appear to aggregate broader categories—potentially combining federal lobbying filings, state and local advocacy, RPAC and Realtor Party activity, and other membership‑funded programs—into a headline “lobbying and election” total near $103–104 million, while OpenSecrets extracts maintain strict, separated categories that keep lobbying, contributions, and independent expenditures discrete [1] [3] [5]. The dataset thus shows two defensible but incompatible accounting methods: one aimed at the public impact and aggregate influence, the other at granular, legally reported line items [1] [3].
5. What the user should take away — a cautious bottom line
Given the differing methodologies reflected in the sources, the defensible factual summary is that media accounts in early 2025 report NAR spent about $86.3 million on lobbying in 2024 and roughly $103–104 million when combined with election‑related activity, while OpenSecrets’ itemized records in the same collection report substantially lower, category‑specific totals (lobbying ~$14.86 million; contributions ~$1.50 million; outside spending ~$1.79 million; PAC totals ~$18.16 million) [1] [3] [5]. Which figure you use depends on whether you want the aggregated, impact‑oriented total cited by press pieces [1] [2] or the narrow, line‑item accounting in the OpenSecrets extracts [3] [5].