Will Scott Brown vs. Jeanne Shaheen set spending record?

Will Scott Brown vs. Jeanne Shaheen set spending record?

The senate race between Democratic incumbent Jeanne Shaheen and Republican challenger Scott Brown is going to be a pricey one. Some are even speculating that it could set records.

Chris Cassidy of the Boston Herald reports…

Scott Brown-Jeanne Shaheen N.H. race costs may set record

The heavyweight U.S. Senate showdown between Jeanne Shaheen and Scott Brown — already off to a fast and snippy start with both sides accusing each other of breaking federal elections laws — could shatter records for campaign spending and even top the amount racked up by GOP presidential primary hopefuls in the Granite State two years ago.

“It wouldn’t shock me if it topped $50 million,” said Dante Scala, a campaign finance expert at the University of New Hampshire. “I suspect the spending on the Senate race will dwarf the New Hampshire Republican primary spending in the 2012 presidential primary. … In all likelihood this would set a record.”

Spending during Shaheen’s last U.S. Senate race against John Sununu in 2008 hit about $37 million, Scala said. Even by his most conservative estimate, Scala expects to see $45 million in spending — $20 million combined by both campaigns and $25 million by super PACs and other outside groups.

All this in a state with just 1.3 million people and less than 800,000 registered voters.

The stakes are high and both sides know it.

In addition to hitting her support for Obamacare, Brown is taking Shaheen to task for the Keystone pipeline.

Brown published the following letter in the New Hampshire Union Leader…

Will Jeanne Shaheen join me in supporting the Keystone pipeline?

ONE THING I keep hearing from working men and women as I drive across New Hampshire is they want a shot at a good job that pays a fair wage with decent benefits. Too many people remain stuck in part-time work, or are employed below their skill level. Pay raises have been hard to come by. A recent report from the National Employment Law Center found that as we have come out of the recession, we have replaced middle-class jobs with lower-wage jobs.

That’s one of the reasons why I’m running for the United States Senate: to promote policies and initiatives that will provide better jobs for all. I do not want to see a minimum wage economy. I want to see good-paying jobs flourish.

The Keystone pipeline is a perfect example of the type of project that will create those good-paying jobs, if only government would get out of the way. Building Keystone would immediately create thousands of union and non-union construction and maintenance jobs that will last years.

Expensive or not, this fight is certainly going to get dirtier.

Featured image via YouTube.

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