Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP

The final election receipts exceeded $2 billion

The Romney campaign had a surge of $86 million raised between October 18 and November 26.

The most expensive election in the history of expensive elections passed a major milestone Thursday evening: the cost of the election was revealed to be more than $2 billion dollars. Campaign finance forms released Thursday evening showed the combined fundraising of the Romney and Obama campaigns brought the election over the top of the mark. That is one killer check to cover. It's unclear how much, exactly, each campaign raised, but we knew Obama hit the more-than-$1 billion mark at the end of October.

Romney eventually passed the mark too, thanks to a little help from his super mega rich friends. The Romney campaign had a surge of $86 million raised between October 18 and November 26,Politico reports. Depending on the timeline, that amount could be completely separate from the $33 million Sheldon Adelson and his wife donated to Romney super PACs during the last three weeks of the campaign, according to the Wall Street Journal

The real question is, who is responsible for the tip?