Election Day has come and gone, but the super-PAC era is just beginning.

"Election Day has come and gone, but the super-PAC era is just beginning." (photo: stevendepolo via flickr) The heads of the outside spending groups that pumped more than $1 billion into the 2012 election are already making plans for 2014.

Conservative outside groups Crossroads and Freedomworks for America told The Hill they made a long-term commitment to their donors that won’t be altered by the disappointing results Republicans saw in 2012.

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The Democratic House Majority PAC spent $30 million on House races through mid-October and saw its favored candidates win in exactly half of them, according to an analysis by the Sunlight Foundation. The group is “taking a long breath” with the election over, but plans to charge ahead into the next campaign.

“As long as these are the rules of the road, House Majority PAC will continue to ensure that the outside spending disparity [between Republicans and Democrats] is diminished as much as possible,” said House Majority PAC spokesman Andy Stone.

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“I still don’t think super-PACs should exist, but as long as Republicans are going to do this, Democrats need a response,” said Burton of Priorities USA Action.

With the next election two years away, some outside groups, including Crossroads and the Tea Party-aligned Freedomworks for America, plan to assert themselves during the lame-duck session of Congress.