The High Cost of Democracy

THE men and women who went to the polls on Nov. 3 were wooed at a pitch and a price that surpassed any off-year election in history. The immense cost must seem too high in any rational ordering of America's priorities and resources. TIME correspondents across the U.S. and other election analysts estimate the total outlays for Senate, House and Governor races at $200 million, only a part of which will ever be reported. Exact figures will never be fully known. Seven states have no laws at all requiring political candidates to itemize the expenses of their campaigns.

Where laws exist, many statutes permit politicians to make superficial disclosures. Each candidate for the Senate and House is required by federal law to list funds received and spent "by him or by any person for him with his knowledge or consent." Taking pains not to have knowledge or give consent (by leaving fiscal matters to specially created committees) enables big spenders quite honestly to have nothing to report. Hidden coststhe loan of a secretary from a business executive, the use of a corporate plane, access to computersare seldom disclosed.

Even so, some generalizations can be made about the price of office: the average cost in a House race is $40,000 to $70,000 for winner and loser alike. The battle for a Senate seat in a major state comes to an average $1,500,000 per candidate. A would-be Governor in a populous state must be prepared to spend at least $1,000,000 to win the statehouse. These huge sums, despite the traditional claim of politicians that every dollar came in crumpled bills from the man on the street, are raised from the wealthy few: it is estimated that 90% of political funds are donated by 1% of the population. When the stakes are high in close races in heavily populated states, the costs can be far higher than average.

Spending in four representative states:

NEW YORK. Leading the Republican ticket, and the nation's big spenders, was New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller. Rockefeller, who faced no primary, spent between $7,000,000 and $10 million to win re-election to a fourth term. His Democratic opponent, Arthur Goldberg, spent $2,000,000; Conservative Paul Adams ran on a miserly bankroll that totaled just $50,000. With the Democratic primary expense of unsuccessful Howard Samuels ($1,000,000) added in, the Governor's chair in Albany this year bore a $12-million price tag.

In the race for the Senate, Democrat Richard Ottinger, backed primarily by his mother, spent $3,500,000; Republican Charles Goodell, who found himself cut off from some of the party's biggest contributors, invested $1,000,000. Conservative James Buckley, the first third-party Senator elected in 30 years, spent $1,500,000. Three unsuccessful contenders for the Democratic nomination increased the campaign inflation by $234,000, bringing the total spent in the Senate race to over $6,000,000.

WYOMING. Voters in sparsely populated (332,000) Wyoming elected one Senator, a Governor, and their single, at-large member of the House of Representatives this year. Though each candidate suspects his opponent of spending more than claimed, the campaigns for these offices came to perhaps $2 for every person in the state, $6 for each vote cast Nov. 3. Incumbent Senator Gale McGee spent $150,000 (the Democrats say) to $300,000 (the G.O.P. says) to retain his seat. His G.O.P. challenger, John S. Wold, aided by a fund-raising dinner that featured Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, put $150,000 to $250,000 into his campaign. The gubernatorial race was cheap compared with other states: Democrat John Rooney, the loser, spent $15,000; winning Republican Stanley Hathaway outspent Rooney by 100%a total of $30,000. Teno Roncalio sank $29,000 into his successful race for the House, some of it in long-term loans; G.O.P. Candidate Harry Roberts spent $50,000 (the G.O.P. says) to $90,000 (the Democrats say). The total expenditure for campaigns that attracted less than 121,000 voters: from $424,000 to $714,000. GEORGIA. The Southern Strategy is expensive for both parties at election time. With the demise of the one-party system have come party primaries and challenges to longtime incumbents that strain pocketbooks unaccustomed to opposition. There was no senatorial contest in Georgia, but candidates for Governor and the House spent more than $5,000,000. The biggest spender was former Governor Carl Sanders, who invested $2,000,000 in a losing race for the Democratic nomination. Democratic Governor-elect Jimmy Carter spent $1,000,000. On the Republican side, the biggest spender also came up short on votes: James Bentley ($900,000) lost the primary to a more tightfisted campaigner, Hal Suit, who spent $300,000. House candidates for six contested seats in the state spent nearly $888,000. CALIFORNIA. More than $12 million was consumed in electing California's Governor and congressional delegation. Governor Ronald Reagan spent a minimum of $2,400,000 trying to increase his 1966 margin and carry Senator George Murphy in on his coattails. Murphy lost, but spent $1,500,000 of his own war chest trying. It took John Tunney $1,700,000 to unseat Murphy, while the unsuccessful Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Jess Unruh, was financed with $1,100,000. Candidates vying for California's 38 House seats spent $5,300,000 in both primaries and the general election.

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