By David Farmer,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – The three publicly financed candidates for governor have the same amount of money to spend on their campaigns, but disclosure reports suggest that they’re following different strategies and have much different needs.

State Sen. Chandler Woodcock, the Republican nominee, has spent the least so far for the general election. Of the $400,000 stake he received as a Maine Clean Election candidate, Woodcock spent $40,000 between June 2 and July 18, the end of the most recent reporting period.

Green Independent nominee Pat LaMarche has laid out more than $199,000 in the same period of time, $100,000 of which is for advertising to run later in the campaign.

Independent Barbara Merrill spent almost $86,000.

By qualifying for public financing for their campaigns, the three candidates received $400,000 to finance their general election campaigns. Woodcock and LaMarche also received $200,000 to run their primary campaigns. Merrill did not run in a primary and did not receive her initial distribution until June.

Some of the spending documented in the report actually occurred during the primary, which was held June 13.

Since June 13, Woodcock has spent about $27,000, and LaMarche has spent about $144,000.

If incumbent Democratic Gov. John Baldacci, who is running a traditionally financed campaign, or his supporters raise or spend more than $400,000, the other candidates can qualify for matching money of up to $1.2 million each.

But that money is not guaranteed, although all three challengers expect Baldacci to eclipse the $400,000 threshold. In reports filed this week, he raised about $156,000 from June 2 to July 18, but only about half of it was raised during the general election and will count toward the limit.

In the primary, Woodcock waited until close to the election for much of his spending, and the most recent report suggests he’s planning the same approach for November.

“We’re trying to be very frugal with our money,” said Woodcock campaign manager Chris Jackson. “I’m operating under the assumption that we have $400,000 to run a statewide gubernatorial campaign. … We want to make sure we have the money when we need it.”

For LaMarche, the earlier spending is as much about necessity as it is strategy.

“There are a couple of big differences between our campaign and Chandler Woodcock’s,” LaMarche said. “The Republican Party is wealthy, and there’s a lot of things that the party can pay for, support they can offer that we don’t have,” she said.

And, LaMarche said, a large chunk of the money her campaign has spent is to place a retainer on media buys that won’t actually happen until later in the year.

“The number is a little bit misleading because we – all of the candidates – have to pay for everything in advance,” LaMarche said, referring to the common practice by many media outlets not to extend credit to political campaigns because of the difficulty in collecting after the election if they lose.

“What’s important is to make sure that you’re well-positioned for the end,” LaMarche said.

The lack of party support and the burden of running a campaign as an independent also factored into Merrill’s spending plan, said Philip Merrill, the candidate’s assistant campaign treasurer and husband.

“I think that if you look at how much money was spent on the day-to-day running of a campaign, we’re pretty close to Woodcock,” Philip Merrill said.

The difference is that the campaign already has run two television commercials, he said.

“We didn’t have the luxury of a primary campaign to get known,” Philip Merrill said. “Barbara was afraid that if she didn’t get out there early, it might be too late.”

When a candidate runs under the banner of a political party, Philip Merrill said, voters can get a general handle of where the person stands on the issues even though there can be a lot of differences between individuals.

“Being an independent, you could be anything,” Merrill said.

Without the pressure to raise money, the publicly financed candidates get to focus instead on how best to spend it.

Philip Merrill, a former Democrat and political strategist, said that Woodcock ran an intelligent campaign in the primary by waiting until the end to make his move, but the calculation in the general election is more complicated.

“The general election is a little different. While a large segment of people do make up their mind at the last minute, it’s more nuanced than just waiting until the end.”

For the year so far, LaMarche has spent $357,000 on her campaign and has a cash balance of $256,000. Woodcock has spent just $248,000 and has almost $377,000 in cash. Merrill has spent almost $86,000 and has a war chest of $322,000.