WASHINGTON — The three candidates for New York's 23rd Congressional District poured a total of $6.3 million into the campaign and will have to start from scratch if they look to run again in 2012.

The biggest spender was Matthew A. Doheny, the Republican investment banker from Watertown, who spent $3.4 million, including more than $2 million of his own money, to nearly unseat Rep. William L. Owens, D-Plattsburgh.

Mr. Doheny finished with $9,982 in campaign cash, his post-election filing at the Federal Election Commission shows.

Mr. Owens spent $1,833,714 and finished with $17,410.

Douglas L. Hoffman, who lost the Republican nomination but waited until the final few weeks of the campaign before lending support to Mr. Doheny, spent $1,062,217 and has $150.22 left.

Mr. Owens, with the help of Democratic fundraising efforts and the power of incumbency — though he was only in office for less than a year — won the race for campaign cash too. The Democratic fundraising organizations Act Blue and J Street PAC, for instance, sent along $48,795 in bundled contributions from individuals.

Post-election filings show that Mr. Owens raised $1,507,033 to Mr. Doheny's $1,137,353. Mr. Hoffman raised $219,086.

Each of the candidates loaned money or guaranteed loans to their campaigns. Mr. Owens had $190,500 in loans made or guaranteed by the candidate, of which $160,500 has been paid back from the campaign, his filing shows.

Mr. Doheny loaned his campaign more than half a million dollars in the final weeks of the race. His campaign has not paid back any of the loans he made, the filing shows.

Mr. Hoffman, on the other hand, has been paying himself back for the loans he has made in his two congressional campaigns. He loaned the campaign $349,900 for this race, some of that in arrangements that pay him back interest. The campaign has repaid him a total of $357,000 this cycle, the FEC report shows.

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