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Ballot measure campaign finance, 2017
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This page summarizes the campaign finance data for ballot measures certified to go before voters in 2017.
In 2017, Ballotpedia tracked $108.8 million in contributions to ballot measure campaigns. There were 27 measures on the ballot in 2017, including four citizen initiatives.
Overview
Ballotpedia tracked about $108.8 million in contributions to ballot measure campaigns in 2017. Support campaigns raised $43.71 million, while opposition campaigns raised $64.56 million. Citizen initiatives pulled in the majority of contributions with more than $101 million in contributions. In comparison, campaigns surrounding legislative referrals and other measures raised about $7 million.
Contributions for individual measures
An initiative in Ohio led the pack in campaign contributions for 2017, followed distantly by a Maine initiative:
- The Ohio Issue 2, Drug Price Standards Initiative, a measure designed to require the state and state agencies, including the Ohio Department of Medicaid, to pay the same or lower prices for prescriptions drugs as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, garnered more than $77.41 million in total contributions. Almost $59.13 million of the total was raised for the opposition and around $18.29 million for the support campaign.
- Campaigns in support and opposition of Maine Question 1, Casino or Slot Machines in York County Initiative, an initiative designed to allow for slot machines or a casino in York County, Maine, raised a total of $10.16 million. The support campaign raised over $9.43 million, while the opposition raised $723,198.
Contributions by topic
Healthcare measures raised over $80.51 million or about 74 percent of all campaign contributions. A gambling measure raised $10.16 million, a law enforcement measure raised $10.57 million, and a constitutional convention measure raised over $5.28 million. Other topics included, banking ($1.08 million) and tax and bond measures (combined $600,000).
Contributions by state
Two Ohio ballot measures amassed over $87.99 million in campaign contributions. Two initiated measures and one legislatively referred measure in Maine collected the second highest total in contributions at a distant $13.38 million. Other states with high contributions for the year include New York ($6 Million), Texas (over $1 million) and Louisiana ($536,000).
2017 ballot measure contributions
The charts below list all of the measures certified to appear on the ballot in 2017, along with the supporting and opposing contributions for each measure, the outcome of each measure, and the date on which the campaign finance information was last updated. Click on the arrows at the top of each column to sort the data according to that column. Measures put on the ballot through citizen petitions generally attract more spending than measures put before voters by the legislature. The measures listed below are broken out into a chart for citizen initiatives and a chart for legislative referrals and automatic ballot referrals.
Initiatives
The measures listed in this section were put on the ballot through citizen signature petition campaigns to propose a new law.
| Ballot Measure: | Support contributions: | Opposition contributions: | Outcome: | Last updated: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio Issue 1, Marsy's Law Crime Victim Rights Initiative (2017) | $ | $ |  | |
| Ohio Issue 2, Drug Price Standards Initiative (2017) | $ | $ |  | |
| Maine Question 1, Casino or Slot Machines in York County Initiative (2017) | $ | $ | | |
| Maine Question 2, Medicaid Expansion Initiative (2017) | $ | $ | |
Legislative and automatic referrals
The measures listed below were put on the ballot by the state legislature or automatically required by a state law or the state constitution. These types of measures usually generate less campaign spending than initiatives and veto referendums.
Comparison to prior years
In 2016, contributions to ballot measure campaigns exceeded a combined total of $1 billion. The average amount spent on a ballot measure was $6.2 million, with $12.3 million as the average for the 76 citizen-initiated measures and $881,907 as the average for the 86 legislative and automatic referrals. These averages were an increase from 2015, when a total of $32.1 million was raised for campaigns surrounding 28 ballot measures. An average of $1.1 million was raised per measure, with $4.3 million as the average for the five initiatives and $460,083 as the average for the 23 referrals.
The table below provides the data for the charts above covering the total and average contributions to ballot measure campaigns from 2016 through 2022:
- Note: The following table sums contributions for each measure. Some PACs supported multiple measures.
| Contributions and average contributions by year[1] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Initiatives | Referrals | Total | |
| Average per measure | $4,302,856.94 | $460,083.16 | $1,146,292.76 | |
| 2016 | Total | $936,000,000.00 | $76,000,000.00 | $1,012,000,000.00 |
| Average per measure | $12,318,977.91 | $881,907.49 | $6,246,913.58 | |
| 2017 | Total | $101,243,242.47 | $7,520,734.80 | $108,763,977.27 |
| Average per measure | $25,310,810.62 | $326,988.47 | $4,028,295.45 | |
| 2018 | Total | $984,133,527.91 | $201,569,517.77 | $1,185,703,045.68 |
| Average per measure | $14,472,551.88 | $2,036,055.74 | $7,100,018.24 | |
| 2019 | Total | $9,317,974.94 | $18,722,299.14 | $28,040,274.08 |
| Average per measure | $4,658,987.47 | $550,655.86 | $778,896.50 | |
| 2020 | Total | $988,404,738.19 | $281,531,292.72 | $1,269,936,030.91 |
| Average per measure | $23,533,446.15 | $3,235,991.87 | $9,844,465.36 | |
| 2021 | Total | $105,470,164.28 | $1,626,754.58 | $107,004,044.04 |
| Average per measure | $26,367,541.07 | $46,478.70 | $2,743,693.44 | |
| 2022 | Total | $1,075,470,522.80 | $138,543,927.22 | $1,214,014,450.02 |
| Average per measure | $35,849,017.43 | $4,198,300.82 | $19,272,448.82 | |
See also
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- ↑ The totals below could contain duplications from campaigns working on multiple ballot measure efforts.
