Luke Skywalker
Super Moderator
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Democrat David Trone greets commuters in Derwood, Md. Trone spent more than $12 million of his fortune on an unsuccessful House bid.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Brian Witte, AP)
Wine distributor<span style="color: Red;">*</span>David Trone just<span style="color: Red;">*</span>made history, and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>he's probably not happy about it.
The Democratic congressional candidate pumped more than $12.4 million of his fortune into his campaign for an open House seat in Maryland -- the most ever from a self-funded House candidate. Despite the money and the nearly non-stop advertising it paid for,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Trone lost Tuesday's primary to<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a three-term state senator Jamie<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Raskin, who has been a champion of reducing the role of money in politics. Raskin raised about $2 million.
As the end of the day, Trone paid about $393 per vote that he won, roughly 10<span style="color: Red;">*</span>times what each winning vote cost Raskin.
Trone, who co-owns a multi-state chain of Total Wine & More<span style="color: Red;">*</span>stores,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>joins a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>political graveyard<span style="color: Red;">*</span>filled with failed self-funders.
A quick tour: Wrestling magnate Linda McMahon spent more than $48 million in her unsuccessful bid for a Senate seat from Connecticut in 2012. A failed Senate candidate from Texas, former lieutenant governor<span style="color: Red;">*</span>David Dewhurst, spent nearly $20 million of his money that year, according to data compiled by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, which<span style="color: Red;">*</span>tracks money in federal elections.
But they lag behind<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Meg Whitman, currently CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, who spent more than $140 million of her personal fortune in the 2010 California governor's race and lost to Democrat Jerry Brown.
Meg Whitman<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Richard Drew, AP)
For all the hand-wringing about campaign money, experts say raising money is a meaningful way for candidates to engage with potential supporters.
"People may say nice things, but you don't have a sense of who's really behind you," said Viveca Novak<span style="color: Red;">*</span>of the Center for Responsive Politics. "Contributions are a sign of being really committed to a candidate. If you have to raise money, you also are out there campaigning differently."
Trone's campaign had<span style="color: Red;">*</span>gained lots of attention — because of its proximity to Washington, D.C., and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the rise this year of another<span style="color: Red;">*</span>candidate who is relying mostly on his own money, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump.
But their candidacies are very different. For starters, Trone, a political novice,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>entered the Maryland race at the last minute, joining an already<span style="color: Red;">*</span>competitive battle<span style="color: Red;">*</span>between Raskin and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Kathleen Matthews, a former local TV anchor and wife of MSNBC host Chris Matthews.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Trump walked into the presidential race a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>famous man and has dominated media coverage ever since.
Another key difference between Trone and Trump:<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Trone donated all that money to his campaign outright. Most of Trump's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>investment —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>$36 million through the end of March — came in the form of personal loans from the candidate, allowing him to potentially recoup the money<span style="color: Red;">*</span>later with<span style="color: Red;">*</span>campaign fundraising.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Nearly a quarter of Trump's total receipts have come from other people, although he<span style="color: Red;">*</span>insists he's not actively fundraising.
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