Donations to 2008 ballot measure campaigns

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2009 → ← 2007

In 2008, 174 statewide ballot measures were on the ballot in 37 states. 71 (or 40.80%) of these ballot measures had no campaign finance activity associated with them, while 103 (or 59.20%) of these ballot measures did have campaign finance activity associated with them.

A total of $820,281,179 was contributed to the 103 ballot measures that did attract campaign donations on one or both sides.

Simple statistics

• In 10 states, over $10 million was donated. In 5 states, over $20 million was donated.
• 102 of 174 measures were approved.
• 48 of 71 measures with no campaign finance were approved.
• 30 measures only had formal campaign financing on one side of the issue. Of those, 25 resulted in favor of the side with money.
• 81 of the 103 measures were campaign finance was used resulted in favor of the side that spent more money.

Note: The above results are based on reported campaign finance only. In some cases, campaigns financed support/opposition to multiple measures. The above statistic was edited to include California Proposition 93's unusually large amount of independent expenditures as formal expenditures against the measure.

Top 5 states with ballot measure campaign donations
State	Total donations
California	$477,712,766
Ohio	$86,484,352
Colorado	$72,974,443
Arizona	$40,450,116
Oregon	$21,826,301

Chart of all states

State
	# of ballot measures			Donations
	Without donations	With donations	Total	In favor	Against	Total
Alabama	1	5	6	$255,000	$0	$255,000
Alaska	4	1	5	$3,906,649	$9,313,048	$13,219,696
Arizona	7	1	8	$32,270,382	$8,179,733	$40,450,116
Arkansas	3	2	5	*	*	$1,519,373
California	20	1	21	*	*	$477,712,766
Colorado	13	1	14	*	*	$72,974,443
Connecticut	1	1	2	$17,597	$846,669	$864,266
Delaware	--	--	--	--	--	--
Florida	3	4	7	$6,275,091	$6,675,443	$12,950,533
Georgia	3	0	3	$1,569,573	$0	$1,569,573
Hawaii	0	2	2	$0	$0	$0
Idaho	--	--	--	--	--	--
Illinois	1	0	1	$147,765	$1,694,168	$1,841,933
Indiana	--	--	--	--	--	--
Iowa	0	1	1	$0	$0	$0
Kansas	--	--	--	--	--	--
Kentucky	--	--	--	--	--	--
Louisiana	0	7	7	$0	$0	$0
Maine	2	2	4	$6,860,370	$1,299,645	$8,160,014
Maryland	1	1	2	$7,128,581	$1,025,201	$8,153,782
Massachusetts	3	0	3	$3,134,417	$8,328,154	$11,462,572
Michigan	2	0	2	$11,405,615	$6,916,820	$18,322,434
Minnesota	1	0	1	$4,501,050	$128,432	$4,629,483
Mississippi	--	--	--	--	--	--
Missouri	3	2	5	$18,350,028	$30,226	$18,380,254
Montana	2	1	3	$478,047	$0	$478,047
Nebraska	3	0	3	$729,691	$375,167	$1,104,859
Nevada	0	4	4	$0	$0	$0
New Hampshire	--	--	--	--	--	--
New Jersey	0	2	2	$0	$0	$0
New Mexico	3	7	10	$652,521	$0	$652,521
New York	0	1	1	$0	$0	$0
North Carolina	--	--	--	--	--	--
North Dakota	4	1	5	*	*	$661,741
Ohio	3	2	5	$26,903,600	$59,580,751	$86,484,352
Oklahoma	0	4	4	$0	$0	$0
Oregon	14	1	15	*	*	$21,826,301
Pennsylvania	0	1	1	$0	$0	$0
Rhode Island	0	2	2	$0	$0	$0
South Carolina	0	3	3	$0	$0	$0
South Dakota	4	3	7	$2,621,734	$4,684,262	$7,305,995
Tennessee	--	--	--	--	--	--
Texas	--	--	--	--	--	--
Utah	0	5	5	$0	$0	$0
Vermont	--	--	--	--	--	--
Virginia	--	--	--	--	--	--
Washington	3	0	3	$7,195,788	$2,105,336	$9,301,125
West Virginia	--	--	--	--	--	--
Wisconsin	0	1	1	$0	$0	$0
Wyoming	0	2	2	$0	$0	$0
Totals:	103	72	175	--	--	$820,281,179

Note: The results are based on reported campaign finance only. In some cases, campaigns financed support/opposition to multiple measures, and therefore true individual amounts could not be determined. The amounts also do not reflect money used by groups not officially registered as a support/opposition committee.

Charts by state

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Alabama
	Amendment 1	$255,000	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment 2	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment 3	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment 4	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment 5	$0	$0	--	--	No	d
	Amendment 6	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
Total spent:		$255,000

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Alaska
	Measure 1	$109,234	$0	--	--	No	d
	Measure 2	$729,933	$391,506	--	--	No	d
	Measure 3	$140,975	$0	--	--	No	d
	Measure 4	$2,926,507	$8,921,542	--	--	No	d
	Proposition A	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
Total spent:		$13,219,696

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Arizona
	Proposition 100	$5,881,357	$0	--	--	No	a
	Proposition 101	$691,639	$1,034,000	--	--	No	d
	Proposition 102	$7,782,275	$833,041	--	--	No	a
	Proposition 105	$1,545,425	$1,668,185	--	--	No	d
	Proposition 200	$14,763,892	$1,005,670	--	--	No	d
	Proposition 201	$604,598	$3,498,487	--	--	No	d
	Proposition 202	$1,001,196	$140,350	--	--	No	d
	Proposition 300	$0	$0	--	--	No	d
Total spent:		$40,450,116

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Arkansas
	Amendment 1	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment 2	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment 3	$836,430	$221,252	--	--	Yes	a
	Proposed Initiative 1	$136,757	$332,449	--	--	Yes	a
	Bond Question 1	$120,467	$0	--	--	No	a
Total spent:		$1,519,373

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
California
	Proposition 1A	$2,634,640	$0	$48,454	$0	No	a
	Proposition 2	$10,499,162	$8,973,429	$12,278	$0	No	a
	Proposition 3	$7,908,647	$0	$39,755	$0	No	a
	Proposition 4	$3,202,911	$10,504,042	$414	$9,997	Yes	d
	Proposition 5	$7,601,079	$10,488,043	$10,919	$87,800	Yes	d
	Proposition 6	$1,983,008	$4,339,575	$188,214	$3,300	Yes	d
	Proposition 7	$9,360,232	$29,787,119	$414	$14,294	No	d
	Proposition 8	$42,329,562	$64,351,406	$81,454	$38,735	Yes	a
	Proposition 9	$5,149,931	$2,356,567	$10,714	$3,300	Yes	a
	Proposition 10	$22,720,573	$173,218	$414	$0	No	d
	Proposition 11	$16,279,892	$1,525,816	$714	$0	No	a
	Proposition 12	$0	$0	$10,942	$40,025	No	a
	Proposition 91	$0	$0	$0	$602	No	d
	Proposition 92	$3,543,032	$2,954,524	$12,678	$4,067	No	d
	Proposition 93	$16,840,223	$8,958,926	$267,554	$12,399,982	No	d
	Proposition 94	$108,366,370	$64,331,873	$0	$1,772	Yes	a
	Proposition 95	$108,366,370	$64,331,873	$0	$1,772	Yes	a
	Proposition 96	$108,366,370	$64,331,873	$0	$1,772	Yes	a
	Proposition 97	$108,366,370	$64,331,873	$0	$1,772	Yes	a
	Proposition 98	$6,992,782	$15,608,527	$59,963	$95,102	Yes	d
	Proposition 99	$15,600,929	$0	$46,008	$7,500	Yes	a
Total spent:		$477,712,766

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Colorado
	Amendment 46	$443,285	$949,458	--	--	Yes	d
	Amendment 47	$6,012,934	$30,835,433	--	--	Yes	d
	Amendment 48	$433,530	$1,980,765	--	--	Yes	d
	Amendment 49	$2,425,346	$20,383,624	--	--	Yes	d
	Amendment 50	$7,709,963	$4,446	--	--	Yes	a
	Amendment 51	$632,185	$4,446	--	--	Yes	d
	Amendment 52	$743,419	$156,305	--	--	Yes	d
	Amendment 54	$2,236,438	$20,483,724	--	--	Yes	a
	Amendment 58	$6,260,914	$11,971,946	--	--	Yes	d
	Amendment 59	$3,984,024	$12,458	--	--	Yes	d
	Referendum L	$2,981	$4,446	--	--	Yes	d
	Referendum M	$7,427	$0	--	--	Yes	a
	Referendum N	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Referendum O	$462,257	$4,446	--	--	Yes	d
Total spent:		$72,974,443

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Connecticut
	Question 1	$17,597	$846,669	--	--	No	d
	Question 2	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
Total spent:$864,266		'

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Florida
	Amendment 1	$4,520,418	$2,278,417	--	--	No	a
	Amendment 1	$0	$0	--	--	No	d
	Amendment 2	$1,607,803	$4,397,026	--	--	No	a
	Amendment 3	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment 4	$146,870	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment 6	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment 8	$0	$0	--	--	No	d
Total spent:		$12,950,533

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Georgia
	Amendment 1	$258,929	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment 2	$316,252	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment 3	$994,392	$0	--	--	No	d
Total spent:		$1,569,573

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Hawaii
	Question 1	$0	$0	--	--	No	d
	Amendment 1	$0	$0	--	--	No	d
Total spent:		$0

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Illinois
	ConCon	$147,765	$1,694,168	--	--	No	d
Total spent:		$1,841,933

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Iowa
	HJR 3	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
Total spent:		$0

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Louisiana
	Amendment 1	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment 2	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment 3	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment 4	$0	$0	--	--	No	d
	Amendment 5	$0	$0	--	--	No	d
	Amendment 6	$0	$0	--	--	No	d
	Amendment 7	$0	$0	--	--	No	d
Total spent:		$0

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Maine
	Question 1 (Primary)	$4,159,749	$452,640	--	--	No	a
	Question 1	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Question 2	$2,700,621	$847,005	--	--	No	d
	Question 3	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
Total spent:		$8,160,014

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Maryland
	Question 1	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Question 2	$7,128,581	$1,025,201	--	--	No	a
Total spent:		$8,153,782

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Massachusetts
	Question 1	$513,667	$7,567,902	--	--	No	d
	Question 2	$1,576,873	$80,670	--	--	No	a
	Question 3	$1,043,877	$679,582	--	--	No	a
Total spent:		$11,462,572

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Michigan
	Proposal 1	$2,013,393	$304,031	--	--	No	a
	Proposal 2	$9,392,222	$6,612,789	--	--	No	a
Total spent:		$18,322,434

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Minnesota
	Constitutional Amendment	$4,501,050	$128,432	--	--	No	a
Total spent:		$4,629,483

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Missouri
	Amendment 1	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment 4	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Proposition A	$15,604,399	$30,226	--	--	No	a
	Proposition B	$1,715,306	$0	--	--	No	a
	Proposition C	$1,030,323	$0	--	--	No	a
Total spent:		$18,380,254

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Montana
	C-44	$0	$0	--	--	No	d
	I-155	$257,302	$0	--	--	No	a
	LR-118	$220,746	$0	--	--	No	a
Total spent:		$478,047

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Nebraska
	Amendment 1 (Primary)	$104,820	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment 1	$75,572	$0	--	--	No	d
	Initiative 424	$549,299	$375,167	--	--	No	a
Total spent:		$1,104,859

• Information available on followthemoney.org currently only lists 2 of the 3 Amendments Nebraskans voted on in 2008. However, it is believed, based on available committee information from followthemoney.org and Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission, that followthemoney.org combined the campaign finance information for both the primary and the general election Amendment 1 committees ("Yes on 1" and "Nebraskans for Tax Relief and Better Jobs" respectively). Under that assumption, Ballotpedia has separated that information for the purpose of this page.

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Nevada
	Question 1	$0	$0	--	--	No	d
	Question 2	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Question 3	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Question 4	$0	$0	--	--	No	d
Total spent:		$0

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
New Jersey
	Question 1	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Question 2	$0	$0	--	--	No	d
Total spent:		$0

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
New Mexico
	Amendment 1	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment 2	$0	$0	--	--	No	d
	Amendment 3	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment 4	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment 5	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Bond Question 1	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Bond Question 2	$20,241	$0	--	--	No	a
	Bond Question 3	$325,330	$0	--	--	No	a
	Bond Question 4	$306,950	$0	--	--	No	a
	Total spent:		$652,521

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
New York
	Proposal 1	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
Total spent:		$0

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
North Dakota
	Measure 1 (Primary)	$0	$0	--	--	No	d
	Measure 1	$14,825	$570,585	--	--	Yes	d
	Measure 2	$53,297	$570,585	--	--	Yes	d
	Measure 3	$19,894	$0	--	--	No	a
	Measure 4	$3,140	$0	--	--	No	a
Total spent:		$661,741

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Ohio
	Issue 1	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Issue 2	$662,786	$0	--	--	No	a
	Issue 3	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Issue 5	$547,413	$20,868,818	--	--	No	a
	Issue 6	$25,693,401	$38,711,933	--	--	No	d
Total spent:		$86,484,352

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Oklahoma
	Question 735	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Question 741	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Question 742	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Question 743	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
Total spent:		$0

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Oregon
	Measure 51	$20,000	$0	--	--	Yes	a
	Measure 52	$20,000	$0	--	--	Yes	a
	Measure 53	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Measure 54	$15,831,718	$43,207	--	--	Yes	a
	Measure 55	$15,874,925	$0	--	--	Yes	a
	Measure 56	$15,782,525	$904,827	--	--	Yes	a
	Measure 57	$16,157,488	$1,647,967	--	--	Yes	a
	Measure 58	$1,062,522	$15,593,743	--	--	Yes	d
	Measure 59	$1,032,483	$15,644,563	--	--	Yes	d
	Measure 60	$1,032,483	$15,579,848	--	--	Yes	d
	Measure 61	$1,775,623	$15,599,586	--	--	Yes	d
	Measure 62	$1,319,230	$15,575,014	--	--	Yes	d
	Measure 63	$381,802	$16,049,727	--	--	Yes	d
	Measure 64	$1,032,483	$16,722,601	--	--	Yes	d
	Measure 65	$752,201	$418,672	--	--	Yes	d
Total spent:		$21,826,301

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Pennsylvania
	Referendum	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
Total spent:		$0

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Rhode Island
	Question 1	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Question 2	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
Total spent:		$0

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
South Carolina
	Amendment 1	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment 2	$0	$0	--	--	No	d
	Amendment 3	$0	$0	--	--	No	d
Total spent:		$0

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
South Dakota
	Amendment G	$0	$0	--	--	No	d
	Amendment H	$0	$0	--	--	No	d
	Amendment I	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment J	$0	$30,305	--	--	No	d
	Measure 9	$357,274	$0	--	--	No	d
	Measure 10	$775,590	$1,373,328	--	--	No	d
	Measure 11	$1,488,870	$3,280,629	--	--	No	d
Total spent:		$7,305,995

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Utah
	Amendment A	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment B	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment C	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment D	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment E	$0	$0	--	--	No	d
Total spent:		$0

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Washington
	I-985	$669,820	$249,085	--	--	No	d
	I-1000	$5,530,436	$1,678,796	--	--	No	a
	I-1029	$995,532	$177,455	--	--	No	a
Total spent:		$9,301,125

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Wisconsin
	Question 1	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
Total spent:		$0

State	Ballot measures	Pro committee	Con committee	Pro non-committee	Con non-committee	Multiple measure campaigns	Election Result
Wyoming
	Amendment A	$0	$0	--	--	No	a
	Amendment B	$0	$0	--	--	No	d
Total spent:		$0

Footnotes

All donation amounts on this page was gathered through http://www.followthemoney.org on October 29, 2011 & November 20, 2011 and statistics compiled by Ballotpedia staff.