Elections Bring Millions in Direct-mail Revenue to U.S. Postal Service

Postal reform still sits in Congress' dead letter office, but politicians are doing something to keep the U.S. Postal Service afloat: They're spending millions of dollars on direct mail this election.

The Center for Responsive Politics reports the Postal Service has been paid $17.5 million so far this election cycle for delivering political direct-mail pieces, ranking it No. 4 on the center's list of political vendors. This revenue won't close the Postal Service's fiscal gap—it lost $2 billion last quarter—but every little bit helps.