The Federal Election Commission raised the limit on campaign donations on Thursday, citing high inflation ahead of the 2024 elections.

Individual donors can now donate up to $6,600 to each federal candidate during the election cycle. The maximum one can donate to a candidate in the primaries is $3,300, and people can donate another $3,300 to that candidate for the general election. The donation limit for donating to individual candidates increased from $5,800 last year.

INDEPENDENTS LEAD SENATE WITH MOST CAMPAIGN CASH HEADING INTO 2024

The FEC is required by federal law to raise contribution limits every two years to keep up with inflation, which peaked at 9.1% in June. It marked the highest annual inflation rate in 40 years.

The increase comes two days after 33 senators filed their year-end campaign fundraising reports, which showed independent senators leading Republicans and Democrats on campaign cash on hand. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) had the highest amount of cash on hand, reporting $9.7 million and $8.2 million, respectively.

The latest filings were released as Democrats attempt to determine what seats to pour their resources into as they prepare for what is projected to be a tough election cycle next year. Democrats will have to defend 23 Senate seats in the 2024 election compared to just 11 for Republicans.

One Democratic senator has already announced that she is retiring in 2024, opening a door for a Republican to flip the seat. Republicans only need a net gain of two seats if they lose the presidential election, and one seat if they win.

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The contribution increase, which is in effect until Dec. 31, 2024, comes shortly after the midterm elections saw candidates and political committees spend an estimated $8.9 billion in the election cycle, according to the nonpartisan research group OpenSecrets.