This year's batch of candidates for statewide office spent a combined $6.6 million to win over West Virginia voters, their campaign finance reports show.

The battle for two seats on the state Supreme Court accounts for nearly half that amount, while the race for governor reflects an additional $2.28 million. The price tag does not reflect outlays by non-candidate third parties.

Neither of those contests set any spending records, though, with their totals both falling below those seen in 2004.

With governors on the ballot in 10 other states, West Virginia's race for that office proved one the nation's cheapest.

The relatively low spending in the Mountain State stems partly from Republican Russ Weeks spending only about $44,000 to challenge incumbent Gov. Joe Manchin.

That appears to be the least amassed by any major party nominee for governor in the country this year. The next-lowest was apparently the GOP's Joe Kenney in his failed bid against incumbent New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch.

Kenney, who like Weeks lost in a landslide, spent $100,000 to the Democrat's $1.5 million, but Weeks' meager dollars went somewhat farther than his Granite State counterpart.

Weeks spent about 20 cents for each vote he attracted, compared to Kenney's 53 cents.  Lynch and Manchin, a fellow Democrat, laid out around $3 per vote.

The Associated Press reviewed nonfederal candidate campaign finance reports filed with West Virginia's secretary of state, as well as disclosures posted by comparable agencies in the 10 other states with gubernatorial elections this year.

AP analyzed spending from throughout the election cycle, by party nominees and when available by those who fell in the year's primary contests.

Manchin won re-election with nearly 70 percent of the vote, the largest share secured by any candidate for governor in the state in modern times. He prevailed after spending a total of $2.2 million, with $1.5 million of that coming after his easy May primary win over Delegate Mel Kessler, D-Raleigh. Manchin's campaign had $936,730 left as of Nov. 16.

A stable of mostly national consulting firms and the advertising they helped produce consumed about 80 percent of Manchin's total spending.

Half of Weeks' money went to ads, while 27 percent paid consultant Gary Abernathy. The ad spending included $2,500 to the Charleston-based Someday Video Productions for a spot that aired on the Suddenlink cable system for $7,420.

West Virginia's race for governor also featured Mountain Party candidate Jesse Johnson, who collected 4.5 percent of the vote after spending around $10,000. Kessler, Manchin's primary foe, had spent around $14,200.

This year's batch of candidates for statewide office spent a combined $6.6 million to win over West Virginia voters, their campaign finance reports show.

The battle for two seats on the state Supreme Court accounts for nearly half that amount, while the race for governor reflects an additional $2.28 million. The price tag does not reflect outlays by non-candidate third parties.

Neither of those contests set any spending records, though, with their totals both falling below those seen in 2004.

With governors on the ballot in 10 other states, West Virginia's race for that office proved one the nation's cheapest.

The relatively low spending in the Mountain State stems partly from Republican Russ Weeks spending only about $44,000 to challenge incumbent Gov. Joe Manchin.

That appears to be the least amassed by any major party nominee for governor in the country this year. The next-lowest was apparently the GOP's Joe Kenney in his failed bid against incumbent New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch.

Kenney, who like Weeks lost in a landslide, spent $100,000 to the Democrat's $1.5 million, but Weeks' meager dollars went somewhat farther than his Granite State counterpart.

Weeks spent about 20 cents for each vote he attracted, compared to Kenney's 53 cents.  Lynch and Manchin, a fellow Democrat, laid out around $3 per vote.

The Associated Press reviewed nonfederal candidate campaign finance reports filed with West Virginia's secretary of state, as well as disclosures posted by comparable agencies in the 10 other states with gubernatorial elections this year.

AP analyzed spending from throughout the election cycle, by party nominees and when available by those who fell in the year's primary contests.

Manchin won re-election with nearly 70 percent of the vote, the largest share secured by any candidate for governor in the state in modern times. He prevailed after spending a total of $2.2 million, with $1.5 million of that coming after his easy May primary win over Delegate Mel Kessler, D-Raleigh. Manchin's campaign had $936,730 left as of Nov. 16.

A stable of mostly national consulting firms and the advertising they helped produce consumed about 80 percent of Manchin's total spending.

Half of Weeks' money went to ads, while 27 percent paid consultant Gary Abernathy. The ad spending included $2,500 to the Charleston-based Someday Video Productions for a spot that aired on the Suddenlink cable system for $7,420.

West Virginia's race for governor also featured Mountain Party candidate Jesse Johnson, who collected 4.5 percent of the vote after spending around $10,000. Kessler, Manchin's primary foe, had spent around $14,200.

The state ranks eighth nationwide for spending by gubernatorial candidates this year, according to available records. New Hampshire's appears the cheapest, at $1.6 million. The rematch between Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire and Dino Rossi tops the list.

A Democrat, Gregoire and her GOP challenger plowed a combined $23.6 million into their efforts. With Gregoire winning re-election, Rossi's per-vote spending reached $9 and hers fell just below that.

Their spending set a record in that state. West Virginia's 2008 spending pales beside that and the $12 million or so plunked down by its 2004 field for the then-open seat. Manchin had spent a total of $3.5 million that year, while Republican nominee Monty Warner accounted for just under $1 million of the 2004 race total. That year also featured pricey contested primaries for both major parties.

The $3.1 million expended in West Virginia's Supreme Court race equates to about $1.57 million for each of the two seats on the 2008 ballot. About $960,000 of the total came from candidates who fell in the May Democratic primary, mostly from vanquished Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard.

Menis Ketchum, a Huntington lawyer and the race's top Nov. 4 vote-getter, spent the most at $1.37 million. Defeated Republican Beth Walker spent more than $486,600. Former Justice Margaret Workman expended more than $333,800 in her successful bid to return to the five-member court.

The nation's priciest Supreme Court contest was in Alabama, where the two leading candidates amassed a combined $3.8 million, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law.

The nonpartisan center, which monitors court races and their advertising, estimates that candidates for 26 Supreme Court-level seats in 15 states had amassed $29.4 million just before the general election. The resulting spending was about on par with that seen in 2006 court races nationally, it found.

West Virginia saw more than $2.7 million spent by candidates in its bruising 2004 contest for a single Supreme Court seat.

As for its other statewide, state-level races this year:

Post-general reports were not available for either Minimah or Teets. As for the other executive branch offices that make up the West Virginia Board of Public Works, Auditor Glen Gainer and Treasurer John Perdue ran unopposed this year. Both are Democrats.