Ige spends $2 million on gubernatorial campaign

Gov. David Ige spent $2 million on his historic campaign — or roughly $11.25 a vote.

The Democrat raised $2.4 million overall, according to his final state campaign-finance report for the November election, and had a $435,029 surplus.

Ige is the first candidate for governor who voluntarily agreed to stay under the state’s spending limit to qualify for public funds to win since Gov. Ben Cayetano in 1994. He agreed to stay under the spending cap, which was $1.5 million in the primary and $1.5 million in the general election. He met the threshold for public funds for the general election, and received $105,000 in public money, which his campaign used toward a television advertising buy in the week before the vote.

Ige and former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, who ran for governor under the Hawaii Independent Party banner, were also the first major candidates for governor to agree to the spending limit since Linda Lingle, a Republican who lost a campaign in 1998.