Using campaign finance reports that the Office of the Secretary of the State provided, we looked at average campaign expenditures for major party statewide office candidates during the 1994, 1998, and 2002 elections. For gubernatorial candidates, the cumulative average for the three election cycles was $ 3,869,023. The cumulative averages for the other candidates were $ 333,784 for lieutenant governor, $ 445,696 for secretary of the state, $ 417,133 for treasurer, $ 352,262 for comptroller, and $ 260,718 for attorney general. Table 1 shows the combined primary and general election campaign expenditures.

Information on primary spending by candidates who won and went on to the general election is not readily available. But we did find information on primary spending by candidates who lost. Pauline Kezer ran against John Rowland in the 1994 Republican primary for governor and spent $ 281,397. John Larson ran against Bill Curry in the 1994 Democratic primary for governor and spent $ 1,548,336. Ellen Scalettar, who ran against Susan Bysiewicz in the 1998 Democratic primary for secretary of the state, spent $ 247,716. Finally, Frank Lecce ran against Denise Nappier in the 1998 Democratic primary for state treasurer and spent $ 320,235.

Table 1: Statewide Office Candidates*

Combined Primary and General Election Expenditures: 1994, 1998, and 2002

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