Is Less More? District 18 Campaign Finance

How much does it cost to win a seat in the Maryland House of Delegates?

In District 18, vote shares for the House appear inversely related to spending. However, we cannot know for sure because Vanessa Atterbeary has not filed her pre-general (due in October) or post-general (due in November)campaign finance reports.

Dana Beyer spent $185,577.13, or just over $34 per Democratic primary vote, on her campaign. Her campaign has very substantial outstanding loans which I imagine are owed primarily to the candidate.

Incumbent Ana Sol Gutierrez spent $41,937.16, or $5.32 per vote, and came in first. Jeff Waldstreicher expended $87,976.92 or $11.91 per vote, and came in second. Al Carr spent $99,919.23, or $14.79 per vote and came in third.

However, the three incumbents also benefited from expenditures by the District 18 Democratic Team which also included Sen. Rich Madaleno and spent $95,690.44, so comparisons between the incumbents and challengers are not so clear.