Outside spending on Connecticut’s deadlocked race for governor blew past $10 million Friday night as the Republican and Democratic governors associations reported another $1.4 million in expenditures, almost entirely for attack ads on television.
In filings to state elections officials, the DGA reported another $550,000 in spending to support the re-election of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy at 5:12 p.m., but the RGA countered 10:41 p.m. with $904,097 to back the GOP challenger, Tom Foley.
The governors’ associations have funneled their contributions through two Connecticut-based super PACs, the GOP’s Grow Connecticut and the Democrats’ Connecticut Forward. The former has spent $4.9 million, the latter $4.1 million.
Other groups have spent more than $1 million to support Malloy, including $751,100 by a gun-control PAC co-founded by former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was wounded by gunfire, and $653,000 by the Working Families Party.
Gifford’s group is spending $500,000 on television ads and $200,000 on direct mail, while the Working Families Party is focusing on door-to-door canvassing and other direct voter outreach.
The RGA seems on track to nearly triple the $1.6 million spent on the state’s open race for governor in 2010, which also pitted Malloy against Foley.
The DGA has given $2.25 million to its state affiliate, Connecticut Forward, compared to $1.78 million four years ago. With other contributions from labor unions, Connecticut Forward’s total resources top $4 million.
In addition to the outside spending, Malloy and Foley each have general-election budgets of $6.5 million under the state’s voluntary system of publicly financing campaigns.