TRENTON, N.J., Oct. 12 (UPI) -- The Democratic and Republican nominees for New Jersey governor have broken state spending records with four weeks left in their campaign.
Campaign documents filed Tuesday show Douglas R. Forrester and Democratic U.S. Senator Jon S. Corzine have spent a combined $28 million since the June primary, The New York Times reports.
Both candidates used private funds, opting out of New Jersey's publicly financed campaign that would have limited both to spending $9.6 million.
Forrester spent $11 million to win a seven-way Republican primary while Corzine spent $5 million.
The previous record was set in the 1993 governor race between Democratic candidate Jim Florio and Republican Christie Whitman. The pair spent $19 million including the primary campaign.
Details on the spending haven't been released but officials from both campaigns say 80 percent of the money is going towards television ads.
Those ads are particularly expensive in a New Jersey campaign because there is no statewide network.
That means candidates must purchase airtime that will air in expensive markets of New York City and Philadelphia as well as New Jersey.
