Snyder, left, and Bernero )
Lansing -- Candidates for Michigan governor spent a combined $18.1 million in the Aug. 3 primary, reports filed Thursday show, led by Republican Rick Snyder's $7.6 million.
The total spent by the five Republican and two Democratic candidates made the gubernatorial race the second-costliest in state history.
Snyder spent $7.6 million to win the nomination, more than twice as much as any of his opponents, records filed with the Michigan Secretary of State show. That included $5.9 million the millionaire Ann Arbor businessman -- former president of computer maker Gateway Inc. -- loaned to his own campaign.
In all, Snyder raised about $8.1 million, leaving him with about $500,000 unspent to go toward the general election.
The winner of the Democratic primary, Virg Bernero, spent about $1.1 million, raising more than $1 million from donors and receiving a little more than $100,000 in public funds.
Craig Ruff, a senior policy fellow at Public Sector Consultants in Lansing, said contests for governor in Michigan are not cheap, but don't come close to races in states such as California where candidates have spent as much as $50 million in a primary contest.
In Michigan, "2010 was the first time in anybody's memory that you had a competitive primary on both sides," Ruff said. "That was unprecedented."
In 2006, Republican Dick DeVos spent $21 million to win the right to take on Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm, making it the most expensive primary ever in Michigan. The third-most expensive contest was in 2002, when Granholm fought a three-way race for the nomination while Republican Dick Posthumus easily defeated a single challenger. Adjusted for inflation, the $13 million spent by those five candidates was the equivalent of $15.4 million today.
Among the other candidates in this year's primaries, according to campaign finance filings:
Snyder is finished reaching into his pocket, spokesman Bill Nowling said. Snyder expects his general election campaign to be financed through donations, Nowling said.
Bernero spokesman Cullen Schwarz said Bernero is not intimidated by Snyder's financial edge.
"We expect to be outspent, but elections are about more than just money," he said. "People want to know who's on their side, who's fighting for people like them."
Bernero has accepted the full $1.125 million he's eligible for from the state for his general election campaign, though that money was not reflected in reports filed Thursday, said Kelly Chesney, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state.
The state Campaign Fund was established by the Legislature as part of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act of 1976. It is fed by a check-off on the individual state income tax return. Major party nominees in the gubernatorial race are eligible to receive $1.125 million.
Candidates are eligible for the money as long as they or their family members do not contribute more than $340,000 of their own money to their campaigns. Those who accept it are subject to a $2 million cap on campaign spending, but that is lifted if the opponent or the opponent's family members contribute more than $340,000 to the opponent's campaign.
"The caps are off for Bernero, because Snyder spent (over the limit)," Chesney confirmed.
Rich Robinson, executive director of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, noted Granholm tapped the fund during her 2006 re-election campaign.
"This is essentially free money for Virg, as it was for Granholm in 2006," Robinson said. "She raised and spent more than $13 million and was still eligible because her opponent (DeVos) was self-funding."
pegan@detnews.com">pegan@detnews.com (313) 222-2300 Staff Writer Mike Wilkinson contributed.
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