November 2005 Special Election Spending Sets Record

The total amount of money raised for the special election in November 2005 -- which included three health-related ballot initiatives -- totaled about $303.9 million, according to campaign finance documents, the AP/Los Angeles Daily News reports.

That amount breaks the previous record of $253.6 million, which was spent in the November 2004 election (Lawrence, AP/Los Angeles Daily News, 2/1). The November 2004 election contained twice as many ballot measures as the most recent election.

The biggest spender was the pharmaceutical industry, which raised about $80 million and spent about $83 million to defeat a prescription drug measure that would have mandated discounts to low-income Californians and to promote its own drug discount measure (Wildermuth, San Francisco Chronicle, 2/2).

The Alliance for a Better California, an umbrella group that opposed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R) agenda, raised and spent about $39 million.

All eight initiatives on the ballot failed (Folmar/Davis, Contra Costa Times, 2/1).