Voters in Maine’s Senate District 32 are the targeted audience of the most expensive legislative race in Maine history. Whether that will help them when they go to the polls on Tuesday remains in doubt.

Like many elections this cycle, most of the money in the race between Republican incumbent Nichi Farnham and Geoffrey Gratwick is not being raised and spent by the candidate’s campaigns, but by third party groups.

So far they have spent $438,697 collectively for a job that pays the winner $25,513 for a two-year legislative session. For a job that has traditionally been filled by the candidate who knocked on the most doors and shook the most hands, that’s quite a bit of cash.

It’s enough, Press Herald reporter Steve Mistler noted in a blog post, to pay the salaries of 18 lawmakers. That could cover a whole joint committee with a few legislators left over.

District 32 is not alone. Outside spending on legislative races is shattering all records, and it is not a partisan phenomenon. Regardless of the outcome of this election, however, this level of spending will likely discourage future campaigns by candidates who don’t have the resources to compete.

 

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