Candidates are spending more, reaching fewer voters

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Voter participation is going down while campaign spending by gubernatorial candidates is going up.

That’s the finding of a new report from the Fair Political Practices Commission released Thursday. The commission published a list of money spent per-vote among recent gubernatorial candidates. And the winner is.... Al Checchi.

The former Northwest Airlines chief executive officer spent $70.21 for every vote he received in the 1998 Democratic gubernatorial primary. That’s nearly $5 per vote more than Meg Whitman spent per vote in the 2010 Republican primary.

“California’s politicians are spending more and more money, but they seem to be reaching fewer and fewer voters,” said commission Chairman Dan Schnur. “There’s no question that the arrival of the self-funded candidate on our political landscape has caused the cost of campaigning to go through the roof for all politicians. No matter where our candidates get their money, it’s clear that they’ll spend more this year than ever before.”

--Anthony York in Sacramento