Where Money Didn’t Talk

All over America, in the months before this millennial election, campaign-spending records fell like grain under the harvester’s scythe. Some big spenders were big winners. The nation’s champ spender, of course, was Democrat Jon Corzine, who, according to the Associated Press, spent more than $60 million to become senator-elect of New Jersey. Well, it was his money. Rick Lazio, on the other hand, spent $33 million to lose to Hillary Rodham Clinton — who spent a mere $26 million — in the state next door.Locally, winner Adam Schiff ($3.9 million) was outspent by defeated incumbent U.S. Representative James Rogan ($6.2 million) in what was the most-expensive-ever House race. According to the Associated Press, the going average expenditure for a U.S. Senate candidacy is now over $6 a vote. For a House race, it’s nearly $5. Here and there, across America, the per capita price was far higher — Corzine’s plurality, for instance, cost him well over $15 per head.

Source: Where Money Didn’t Talk | L.A. Weekly