#ArizonaElectionCashRegister: $6.1M Spent On #AZSen Race TODAY (So Far)

Which is going up faster, the MegaMillions Lottery jackpot or the total outside money being spent on the riveting Arizona Senate campaign?

Independent Expenditure committees have disclosed $6.1M in spending - mostly on TV ads - during the first 18 hours of this October 18th. The lottery jackpot for tomorrow's drawing is the 2nd highest in history, and this campaign between Reps. Martha McSally (R) and Kyrsten Sinema (D) is guaranteed to be the most expensive in Arizona history. (And, today is the biggest single day to date.

The first to file today was NextGen Climate Action Committee - the vehicle for billionaire Tom Steyer's national spending. It plunked down a measly (estimated) $242,000 for digital advertising. It was the first foray for the group into the Senate race, as the group has been concentrating on the clean energy Prop. 127, and state candidates.

That was followed in short order by media buys hammering McSally by the Democrats' dark money (#50ShadesofDarkMoney) group Majority Forward ($1.3M) and the not-dark Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee ($1.2M).

However, all three of those pro-Sinema/anti-McSally spends were then dwarfed by the homegrown-turned-national DefendArizona. The omni-present SuperPAC made their daily FEC filing a big one, $3.7M on producing and placing two new ads. Arizona's Politics profiled DefendArizona on Monday, and the Arizona Republic's Ron Hansen went into more detail yesterday.

DefendArizona - now mainly funded by the national Senate Leadership Fund (despite its still-local name) - has now spent $18.8M relentlessly attacking Sinema.

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