$enate Race : Cranston, Zschau Spent Combined $25.5 Million, Making It Costliest California Election Ever

California’s recent U.S. Senate election cost $25.5 million, making it the second-most expensive Senate race in the nation’s history and easily the most costly election of any kind in California.

The latest federal campaign statements also show that Democratic Sen. Alan Cranston, who was elected to a fourth term, raised more money for his race--$10.2 million--than any other Democratic Senate candidate in U.S. history.

Cranston’s Republican opponent, Los Altos Rep. Ed Zschau, raised $10.5 million. That was a first: Until this election, Cranston had never been out-raised by an opponent in his four Senate races.

When it came to spending, Zschau outspent Cranston by only $500,000. That came as a surprise to some observers, who had expected Zschau, a former businessman with strong support in the corporate community, to beat Cranston handily in the spending race.

But Cranston, always a top fund-raiser, got started early. He had raised $5 million before the Republicans chose Zschau as their nominee in June.

In all, Cranston spent $10.8 million and Zschau $11.3 million. Another $1.7 million was spent on behalf of each candidate by their respective Senate party committees, bringing the grand total for the race to $25.5 million.

The most expensive U.S. Senate race in history was in 1984, when the contest in North Carolina between Republican Sen. Jesse Helms and Democratic challenger James Hunt cost $25.9 million.

The bulk of the money in the Cranston-Zschau race went to make and air television commercials. In the final two weeks alone, each candidate spent more than $1 million just to air their commercials.

A little more than 7 million California voters went to the polls in the recent election, so the Cranston-Zschau expenditures work out to about $3.60 per vote.

That may sound like a lot, but consider this year’s Vermont U.S. Senate race: The spending there worked out to $12 a vote, according to the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee.