Jerry Brown's $37M Trumped Whitman's $179M

Failed Calif. gov campaign cost $43.25 per vote in her favor
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 1, 2011 5:43 AM CST
Jerry Brown's $37M Trumped Whitman's $179M
Governor-elect Jerry Brown responds to a question during a news conference held at his campaign headquarters in Oakland, Calif., Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010.    (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Democrat Jerry Brown won the California governor's race despite being outspent nearly 5 to 1 by opponent Meg Whitman, according to campaign finance reports filed yesterday. The former eBay CEO, who shattered the record for personal spending by a candidate, spent $178.5 million on her campaign, of which $144.2 million was from her own pocket, the AP reports.

Brown's campaign spent just $36.5 million, although he was aided by $26 million in spending by outside groups, mainly labor unions. Whitman, who lost by more than a million votes, spent a total of $43.25 for vote in her favor. Most of the money went for TV ads, although she also spent $20 million on campaign consultants and staff, many of them veterans of the Arnold Schwarzenegger or John McCain campaigns. (More California governor's race stories.)

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