CAMPAIGN 2012: How much are candidates spending to get your vote?

TRI-CITIES, Wash.  --  As we head into primary day, KEPR Action News is tracking campaign money to see how much candidates are spending to get your vote.

In between the ads and the signs, candidates are writing big checks to earn your vote.

This is the time of year when money can make or break a candidate.  KEPR is looking into their wallets.

Echoing a close race in the most recent polls, Rob McKenna has reported $300,000 more in campaign donations compared to challenger Jay Inslee.  But when it comes to spending those donations, the Democratic representative has outspent Republican Attorney General by nearly a million dollars.

In the race for an open U.S. Senate seat, there is no comparison between incumbent Maria Cantwell and prime challenger Michael Baumgartner.  The Democratic Senator has raised seven times the amount of her Republican challenger.  Cantwell has also outspent Baumgartner by two million dollars.

As for representing the Tri-Cities community, Democrat Jay Clough is hoping to unseat Brad Klippert as a state representative.  Clough has brought in $33,000 and spent nearly all of it.  By comparison, Rep. Klippert has raised far less and is spending much less.

Part of Clough's reach includes advertising online.

KEPR learned from the Public Disclosure Commission that Clough is the only local candidate to do so.

To his credit, Rep. Klippert's office tells us he won't actively campaign until after the primary.
That's often when you see the real spending come out and the airwaves clog up.

To view the latest campaign spending for candidates across the state, click here