For the six contested state Senate and state House of Representatives races in Butler County, many of the candidates have raised and spent tens of thousands of dollars to get their name out and attract votes.

The incumbent candidates have easily outraised and outspent challengers in most races, such as the race for the 41st District of the state Senate where Democratic Party challenger Tony Deloreto has spent $18,370, compared to incumbent Don White who has spent $377,230 on campaign expenses and on contributions to other campaigns.

But a couple races have been neck and neck financially. In the race for the 8th District of the state House, challenger Judy Hines and incumbent Ted Nesbit both reported having a cash balance of about $25,000. In the race for the 10th District of the state House, incumbent Democrat Jaret Gibbons and Republican challenger Aaron Bernstine have both spent more than $100,000 including large contributions from their respective party campaign committees.

For many candidates, the largest contributions have come from political committees that support special interests, companies or other candidates.

Here is a look at who is donating to candidates, how much each campaign has been spending and what their expenses have been, according to campaign finance reports filed with the Department of State’s Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation.

[naviga:h3]12th District State House[/naviga:h3]

As of Oct. 24, incumbent Republican Daryl Metcalfe had spent almost $20,000 more than he took in over the course of the year. However, the majority of this money was spent in the spring when he faced challenger Gordon Marburger in the Republican Party primary election.

Metcalfe spent $68,887 from March 8 through May 16 and an additional $8,779 from May to October. His expenses included costs for campaign events, printing and postage.

Coming into the year, his campaign committee had $96,049 on hand and he received $58,049 in contributions during the year, leaving a balance of $76,432.

Here are the contributions of $1,000 and more to his campaign:

$1,000: PA Life PAC of Pittsburgh

$1,000: Christian Heritage PAC of Cabot

$1,000: Mary Knox of Valencia

$1,000: Simon Campbell of Newtown, Pa.

$1,000: Jason Boyd of Allison Park, Allegheny County

$1,000: Dillon McCandless King Coulter Graham of Butler

$1,500: William Adams of Portersville

$2,500: Republican Party of Pennsylvania of Harrisburg

$2,500: Mike Turzai Leadership Fund of Wexford

$5,000: Linda Sedwick of Butler

$5,000: Kirby Campbell of Butler

Christian Rieger, the Democratic Party candidate who is a newcomer to politics, was uncontested in the Democratic Party primary, but has been campaigning early in the year. He collected $3,310 in contributions from January to October.

His campaign spent $2,255 throughout the year for yard signs, printing, buttons, banners and other materials.

Rieger donated $1,025 to his campaign and Joel Barger with Kioware Kiosk Solutions of York, Pa. made an in-kind donation of $1,000 for Web design.

[naviga:h3]8th District State House[/naviga:h3]

Incumbent Republican Tedd Nesbit carried $1,092 into this year’s campaign and gathered another $24,300 in contributions during the year.

His campaign spent $12,454 and received $1,404 in in-kind contributions. His spending included printing, postage and expenses for campaign events.

Here are contributions of $1,000 and more for Nesbit:

$2,500: John Whalen of Mercer

$1,250: PA Association for Justice of Philadelphia, Pa.

$1,000: Ortho PAC of Harrisburg, Pa.

$1,000: Carmen Shick of New Castle

$1,000: James Molloy of Grove City

$1,404 in-kind contribution for lists, data and postcards: House Republican Committee

Democratic Party challenger Judy Hines, a retired teacher from Springfield Township, collected $25,782 in contributions from the time she started her campaign in May to Oct. 24.

Her campaign reported $11,603 in expenditures and $473 of in-kind contributions. The campaign spent money on signs, printing, postage and a website.

Here are contributions of $1,000 and more for Hines:

$2,000: Steamfitters PAC 449 of Pittsburgh

$2,000: Debra Olzewski of Glenshaw, Allegheny County

$5,000: International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers PAC Voluntary Fund

[naviga:h3]64th District House[/naviga:h3]

As of press time, Republican incumbent R. Lee James’s election committee had not filed a report for the general election reporting period. However, James himself reported receiving $1,843 from the committee which was used for stamps, paper products, food and Facebook ads.

In May, the committee reported having a cash balance of $21,320 after spending $1,759 on advertising and street lists from the House Republican Campaign Committee.

John Kluck, the Democratic Party challenger, got on the ballot after launching a write-in campaign in the spring.

Between May 25 and Oct. 24, his campaign received $3,899 in contributions and $3,879 of in-kind contributions.

The campaign had $3,084 in expenditures including advertising and signs. The campaign also owes a debt of $5,180 to Kluck. He paid for a website, palm cards, signs and other materials.

Here are the contributions of $1,000 and more for Kluck:

$1,700 in-kind contribution for campaign headquarters: Ray Beichner, owner of Turtle Bay Lodge in Oil City

$1,750 in-kind contribution for baskets and advertising: Sam Amendola of Oil City

Michael Bagdes-Canning, a Green Party candidate from Cherry Valley, raised $2,240 in contributions and spent $882 between May and October.

All of his contributions came from residents, not political committees. The biggest contributor was Bagdes-Canning himself; he gave $335. His expenses included printing, postage and radio advertising.

[naviga:h3]60th District House[/naviga:h3]

Uncontested in the primary and facing only a third-party adversary in the general election, incumbent Republican Jeff Pyle raised $18,405 between May 17 and Oct. 24. His campaign started out with a $7,670 cash balance.

His campaign spent $14,444 on signs and fundraisers. The campaign made donations or sponsorships for various civic organizations and fire departments. It also gave to other political committees, including $4,170 to the House Republican Campaign Committee.

Here are contributions of $1,000 or more for Pyle:

$1,000 each: PA Automotive Association PAC of Harrisburg, State Farm PAC of Media, Pa., Exxon Mobil PAC of Irving, Texas, Christian Heritage PAC of Cabot, Matt Myers of Export, Pa.

$1,150: Dennis Snyder of Kittanning

$1,500: Cliff Forrest of Pittsburgh

$1,500: Paul Bergad of Freeport

$2,500: Mark Snyder of Kittanning

Green Party challenger Gabe Lytle ran his campaign on a minimal budget.

As of Oct. 24 he had collected $282 in campaign contributions and reported spending only $5 of that. He also reported receiving an unspecified in-kind contribution of $166.

[naviga:h3]10th District House[/naviga:h3]

Incumbent Democrat Jaret Gibbons in May brought forward $91,321 in campaign funds and collected an additional $146,502 in contributions.

His campaign spent $213,598 leading up to the election on signs, printing, fundraisers and other campaign expenses. Most of the campaign’s expenses came in the form of $197,150 in donations to the Pennsylvania House Democratic Campaign Committee.

Gibbons also received $206,768 worth of in-kind contributions from several different political committees.

Here are contributions of $1,000 or more for the campaign:

$1,000 each: Friends of Mark Longietti of Hermitage, Pa., Local 0524 United Association of Steamfitters of Scranton, Pa., Local 0420 Steamfitters Union COPE of Philadelphia, Noble Energy PAC of Houston, Texas, PA Realtors PAC, Friends of Frank Dermody of Tarentum, Allegheny County, Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties of Harrisburg, Friends of Dan Miller of Mount Lebanon, Allegheny County, Chesapeake Energy Corp. PAC of Oklahoma City, Okla., Consol Energy Inc. and CNX Gas Corp. PAC of Canonsburg, Pa., Local 0027 Plumbers Union PAC of Coraopolis, Allegheny County, Political Labor Action Now of Harrisburg, Exxon Mobil Corp. PAC of Indianapolis, Ind., Mid-Atlantic Laborers’s Political League of Reston, Va., United Steelworkers of America PAC, The Meadows Standardbred Owners Association PAC of Meadow Lands, Pa., Beaver Lawrence Central Labor Council COPE, Debra McElwain of Ellwood City,

$1,500: Chevron Employees PAC of San Ramon, Calif.

$1,500: Elect Bill Kortz of Dravosburg, Pa.

$1,500: Jay Costa Jr. for State Senate of Pittsburgh

$1,600: Bikers PAC of Mechanisburg, Pa.

$2,000: Mike Sturla for State Rep. of Lancaster, Pa.

$2,000: American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees Council 13 of Harrisburg

$2,000: Malady and Wooten PAC of Harrisburg

$2,500: C.J. Betters of Aliquippa, Beaver County

$2,500: John Stilley of Butler

$2,500: Jamie Stilley of Gibsonia

$2,500: Citizens for a Better Commonwealth of Harrisburg

$2,500: Democracy Fund of Harrisburg

$3,000: Range Resources Energy Independence PAC of Harrisburg

$5,500: PA Association for Justice PAC of Harrisburg

$6,500: Local 0449 Steamfitters Union PAC of Pittsburgh

$7,000: Greater PA Carpenters’ Union of Pittsburgh

$10,000: International Union of Operating Engineers of Pittsburgh

$10,000: International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers PAC Voluntary Fund of Washington D.C.

$10,000: PA Service Employees International Union COPE of Harrisburg

$13,000: PSEA-PACE for State Elections of Harrisburg

Here are the in-kind contributions of more than $1,000 for Gibbons’ campaign:

$2,500: Charles Garbett of Ellwood City for office space

$10,000: PA Realtors PAC for direct mail pieces

$11,077: House Democratic Campaign Committee for staff

$12,000: House Democratic Campaign Committee for production

$22,797: House Democratic Campaign Committee for research and polling

$59,224: House Democratic Campaign Committee for advertising

$89,069: Pennsylvania Democratic Party. The party provided his campaign with design, production and postage costs for several direct mail campaigns

Republican Party challenger Aaron Bernstine received $115,709 in campaign contributions between May 16 and Oct. 24. His campaign also reported on Oct. 28 getting an additional $45,959 in contributions.

Bernstine defeated Dawnlyn Valli and Clifford Glovier in the Republican primary election in April. Leading up to the primary, the campaign raised $19,919 and spent $39,072.

The campaign spent $99,712 leading up to the general election, received $80,847 of in-kind contributions and reported having $37,655 in unpaid debt from Bernstine himself.

The money was mostly spent on postage, campaign materials and advertising.

Here are contributions of $1,000 and more for Bernstine:

$1,000 each: Mastaneh Paul of Pittsburgh, Nicholas D. Varischetti of Brockway, Pa., Charles Zappala of Pittsburgh, Friends of Scott Petri of Richboro, Pa., Rothfus for Congress of Sewickley, Allegheny County, Matthew Brouillette of Annville, Pa., Jay Cleveland, Jr. of Pittsburgh, Michael J. Puskaric of McKeesport, Pa.,

$1,100: Thomas Keiser of Wexford

$1,100: Nicholas Amato of East Liverpool, Ohio

$1,500: Kanwal Chopra of McMurray, Pa.,

$4,000: Citizens for Stan Saylor of Red Lion, Pa.

$5,000: David Barenseld of Ellwood City

$10,000: Students First PAC of Wynnewood, Pa.

$16,960: Republican Party of Pennsylvania of Harrisburg

$110,000: Pennsylvania House Republican Campaign Committee of Harrisburg

Here are in-kind contributions of $1,000 or more for his campaign:

$6,963 for research lists and postcards: Pennsylvania House Republican Campaign Committee of Harrisburg

$7,913 for photo and video: Pennsylvania House Republican Campaign Committee of Harrisburg

$6,753 for advertising: Keystone Republicans for Visionary Change

$55,525 for advertising: Republican Party of Pennsylvania of Harrisburg

[naviga:h3]41st District Senate[/naviga:h3]

Incumbent Republican Don White’s campaign carried $202,171 into this year. His campaign raised an additional $328,970, received $71,373 of in-kind contributions and spent $377,230.

Expenses for the campaign included donations to a variety of political and civic groups as well as dinners, signs and advertising.

Some of the biggest expenditures leading up to the general election included a $5,000 donation to Dayton Agricultural and Mechanical Association of Dayton, Pa.; $26,627 to Daniel Braun Golf Shop at Indiana Country Club for golf outing expenses; $75,000 in donations to the Senate Republican Campaign Committee; a $5,375 donation to the Armstrong County Junior Livestock Sale; a $7,500 donation to the Foundation of IUP for men’s basketball; and to S36,371 to Indiana Country Club for a golf outing.

Here are contributions of more than $5,000 to his campaign:

$5,000: Independence Blue Cross PAC of Philadelphia

$5,000: Daniel Hilferty of Ardmor, Pa.

$6,000: L & M Associates of Pittsburgh

$6,000: Bryan Force of Indiana, Pa.

$6,000: PAD PAC of Harrisburg

$6,000: David Watson of Indiana, Pa.

$6,000: Cliff Forrest of Pittsburgh

$6,000: Mark Snyder of Kittanning

$7,000: The Pennsylvania Insurance PAC of Philadelphia

$8,150: David Osikowicz of Punxsutawney, Pa.

$10,000: PAA-PAC of Harrisburg

$12,000: Pennsylvania SFA PAC of Media, Pa.

$12,000: Pennsylvania Bankers PAC of Harrisburg

$13,000: Capital Blue PAC of Harrisburg

Here are in-kind contributions to White’s campaign valued at $5,000 or more:

$9,231 for legal expenses: Jesse Daniel of The Daniel Law Group of Indiana, Pa.

$56,117 for campaign literature: Republican Party of Pennsylvania

Democratic Party candidate Tony Deloreto raised $26,313 in contributions and spent $18,370. He also received $9,622 in in-kind contributions. His campaign expenses included business cards, fundraisers, yard signs, advertising and staffing.

The campaign received a $7,470 in-kind contribution from the Pennsylvania State Senate Democratic Campaign Committee for photographer and staff salaries.

Stanley Buggey of Homer City, Indiana County, running on the USA Minutemen party line, had not filed a campaign finance report as of press time.

In an interview, Buggey said that his campaign had a budget of about $1,000 which all came from him and family members. He used that money on yard signs, radio and newspaper advertising and a website, he said.