AUGUSTA – Les Otten, who finished second in the Republican gubernatorial primary in June, led all candidates in spending.
Otten, however, who spent at least $2.3 million on his campaign, topped the field by far.
Bruce Poliquin, another Republican, spent about $1.14 million, the next-highest amount for the race He made about $800,000 in cash and in-kind donations to his campaign.
Rosa Scarcelli of Portland was the top-spending Democrat, spending about $822,000 for her third-place finish. She lent her campaign about $500,000 and made cash contributions of about $248,000.
Peter Mills, the only Republican candidate to seek and qualify for public financing, spent about $644,000.
Republican Steve Abbott spent about $460,000 on his fourth-place campaign. He lent himself about $87,000 and used campaign funds to pay back all but $26,000.
Bill Beardsley spent about $330,000 and finished fifth in the Republican primary. Beardsley and his wife contributed about $256,000 of their own money in cash and in-kind contributions.
Republican Matt Jacobson spent a total of $191,000 on his last-place campaign. He lent the campaign $20,000 and made about $15,000 in in-kind contributions.
Democrat Steve Rowe spent about $530,000. He lent his campaign about $29,000 and used campaign funds to repay all but $8,000.
McGowan was a publicly financed candidate who spent about $382,000. He came in fourth out of four Democrats.
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