This year's midterm elections shattered previous fundraising records with estimated spending of more than $4 billion. Yet the biggest spenders didn't necessarily win.
In California, Republican Meg Whitman spent about $175 million -- $57 a vote -- in her bid to be governor, mostly from her own bank account. (She was once CEO of eBay.) That's more than any candidate in U.S. history, even adjusted for inflation. She lost to Democrat Jerry Brown, who spent less than half that sum.
Likewise, former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon poured in more than $41 million of her own money to her U.S. Senate campaign in Connecticut. The Republican lost to Richard Blumenthal, who spent just $6 million. McMahon was one of two Senate candidates who spent $97 per vote – the most spent per vote during the midterm elections -- and lost. The other Senate candidate: tea party favorite Sharron Angle, who failed to unseat Democratic incumbent Harry Reid in Nevada.
http://yearinreview.yahoo.com/2010/blog/8246/most-expensive-votes/