Who's the Biggest Spender in the GOP Primary?

Jan. 23, 2012 -- intro: Three contests into the GOP primary season and already this race has been one of the most volatile, unpredictable and expensive in history.

This is the first presidential cycle since the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision that gave rise to the Super Pacs, which can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to fight for or against specific candidates, and have changed the game when it comes to political advertising.

Super Pacs have poured millions into early primary and caucus states significantly outspending the campaigns they support.

Over the past three weeks, three candidates have dropped out, three states have made their GOP presidential selection and three contenders have emerged victorious.

Here's a rundown -- by the numbers -- of how it's gone down:

quicklist: 1title: Margin of Victorytext:

Money and momentum met patience and persistence in Iowa when well-funded Mitt Romney and 99-county bus-touring Rick Santorum went head-to-head in the first in the nation caucus. The result was the closest election in Iowa caucus history, with Santorum eventually edging Romney by a mere 34 votes, a margin of victory of about .03 percent. Ron Paul took third with 21 percent of the votes, falling 4 percentage points behind Santorum and Romney. Gingrich fell to fourth with 13 percent.

The following two primaries saw double-digit margins between the first- and second-place winners. Romney won New Hampshire by 16 points, capturing 39 percent of the votes compared with Paul's 23 percent. Gingrich and Santorum tied for fifth place behind Huntsman with 9 percent.

Gingrich stole the show in South Carolina with a late-blooming 13-point upset over Romney. Gingrich took 41 percent of the votes compared with Romney's 28 percent. Both Santorum and Paul fell into the teens.

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quicklist:2title: Spending Per Candidatetext:

When it comes to the money war, Romney and Gingrich were neck and neck in South Carolina. Both candidates spent about $5 million campaigning in the Palmetto State, including money spent by Super Pacs on their behalf, according to Federal Election Commission filing data.

While Gingrich's campaign spent the least out of the four GOP candidates, the Super Pac supporting him picked up the slack, pouring nearly $4.4 million into South Carolina.

The pro-Romney Super Pac doled out the second-largest amount at $3.2 million. But Romney's campaign also paid a pretty penny, spending $1.8 million on ads in South Carolina, more than any other candidate.

Rick Perry was the third-highest spender in South Carolina, dumping about $580,000 into the state before dropping out three days before the primary. The pro-Perry Super Pac spent $1.8 million on ads in the Palmetto State as well.

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quicklist: 3title: Spending Per Votertext:

Per vote, Iowa caucus-goers were overwhelmingly the most expensive. Candidates and the Super Pacs supporting them spent, on average, $102.24 on each of Iowa's 122,225 GOP caucus-goers.

Ironically, of the three states that have already voted, Iowans have the worst record of picking the eventual Republican nominee. The Hawkeye State has gone two for five since 1980, a track record of about 40 percent.

New Hampshire, on the other hand, where candidates and their supporters spent a comparatively meager $13.63 per voter, has picked the eventual nominee 60 percent of the time, with three of the past five New Hampshire primary winners going on to capture the GOP nomination.

But even New Hampshire's track record pales when compared with South Carolina's, the state that has not been wrong in more than three decades. Candidates and Super Pacs spent an average of $24.51 per voter in the Palmetto State.

Romney spent the most per vote in South Carolina. Along with the pro-Romney Super Pac, the second-place finisher doled out nearly $30 per vote. Gingrich and his supporting Super Pac spent the least per vote, about $20.56 for each of the 243,000 South Carolinians who voted for him.

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quicklist: 4title: Spending Per Delegate text:

So far, 59 delegates have been apportioned. Of the three states that have allotted, although not bindingly, their delegates, candidates and their Super Pacs spent the most trying to snag South Carolina's 25.

The campaigns and Super Pacs spent a whopping $14.5 million in South Carolina, which comes out to about $580,000 per delegate. Unlike the first two contests, Super Pacs outspent candidates in South Carolina nearly two to one.

Candidates and Super Pacs dumped only slightly less into ads in Iowa, which had 28 delegates up for grabs, spending $12.5 million, or about $446,000 per delegate. That total was split virtually evenly between Super Pacs and candidates.

In New Hampshire, which awards 12 delegates, total spending reached slightly more than $3.3 million, with Super Pacs tossing about $2 million into the Granite State. That's about $280,000 per delegate.

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