Aubertine campaign spent $39.19 per vote
State Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, received one vote for every $39.19 he spent during the special Senate election, according to campaign finance reports released Monday.
Mr. Aubertine spent $1,156,402.64 during his 53-day campaign, or $21,818.92 per day, to garner 29,504 votes and defeat Assemblyman William A. Barclay, R-Pulaski, by 2,842 votes during a Feb. 26 election.
Mr. Barclay's final statement wasn't available Monday.
Mr. Aubertine was well-funded by his state party during the campaign. The campaign committee, based in New York City, gave $975,000 in cash and an additional $12,742.55 to pay for campaign manager Cathy Calhoun and her cell phone bills.
The party's $987,959.01 contribution accounted for 83.03 percent of the $1.19 million raised by Mr. Aubertine. It also heavily skewed the amount of money the former assemblyman raised from outside the 48th Senate District, which includes Jefferson, Oswego and St. Lawrence counties.
Mr. Aubertine received about $1.127 million, or 94.7 percent, from individuals, political action committees and politicians with non-district addresses. He received $58,291.78, or 4.9 percent, from those with local addresses. The campaign lumped $4,427.45 together, or 0.4 percent, as unit contributions, which can be done when several people donate less than $100 each. The report does not specify the localities of these donors.
Most of the money during the compressed campaign was spent on media advertising, direct mail, palm cards and signs.
Mr. Aubertine paid $989,115, or 85.5 percent, to eight companies to provide those services. They included:
■ $632,691 to Global Strategy Group, New York City, which bought air time for the campaign's 30-second television spots.
■ $118,647 to Moxie Pictures, New York City, a commercial producer.
■ $20,515.55 to Atlas Direct Mail, Long Island City, for mailers.
Mr. Barclay's campaign was on pace to spend about $1.07 million, so this won't be the most expensive Senate race in state history. Sen. Craig M. Johnson, D-Port Washington, and Nassau County Clerk Maureen O'Connell, a Republican, spent a combined $5 million during a special election last year.
