Nearly 10M Spent on Maines Question 1

Campaign finance reports filed on Tuesday show that $9.6 million was spent on Question 1, the ballot initiative that repealed the marriage equality law in Maine.

The campaign became one of the most expensive ballot question battles in state history, according to the Kennebec Journal. Proponents of Question 1 won despite being outspent, when the measure passed by a margin of 53%-47% last month.

"Groups that supported a people's veto of the state's same-sex marriage law spent a combined $3.8 million, while groups who opposed the veto spent $5.8 million, according to campaign finance reports filed with the state," reported the Journal.

The totals include the two campaigns, Yes on 1 and No on 1, and 20 groups that spent money.

The groups that spent the most of the $3.8 million used to repeal the marriage equality law were the National Organization for Marriage, which spent around $2 million, and the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Portland, which took up collections in churches for Question 1 and spent $561,024.

By way of comparison, more than $80 million was spent on the Proposition 8 battle in California last year. California has a population of around 37 million people, compared to 1.3 million residents in Maine.