The Nation : $23-Million Election Tab

Political action committees and individuals spent nearly $23 million on the 1984 election, much of it disbursed by conservative groups for what turned out to be a sure thing--Ronald Reagan’s reelection. The biggest individual spender was Michael Goland, a rich California businessman who staged a one-man advertising campaign to help unseat former Sen. Charles H. Percy (R-Ill.). Goland spent $419,573, according to a report on independent expenditures released by the Federal Election Commission. The National Conservative Political Action Committee, which won a Supreme Court victory over the FEC last March ensuring its right to spend an unlimited amount independently, shelled out $9.8 million for President Reagan.