Interactive: Cost Per Vote in the 2012 Texas Runoffs

State candidates spent $5 million collectively in their runoff attempts to secure a party nomination, and as we found after the primary election, some candidates got a better deal than others for their money.

This interactive does not include federal candidates ... yet. The period of time between when federal candidates filed their pre-runoff reports and the runoff election date is larger, so significant last-minute expenditures may not show up yet. When we get final reports for federal candidates, we'll prepare another interactive that includes their numbers.

Compared with the primary's numbers, the cost-per-vote spread for the runoff was relatively tame, with no one spending more than $60 per vote. This can probably be attributed to one thing: less time to spend money between the primary's end and the runoff election. Gene Wu, who won the Democratic nomination in HD-137, spent the most per vote at $59.99, and his opponent, Jamaal Smith, was right behind him at $58.70. It's not surprising that they have the highest per-vote totals. There were only 1,128 votes cast in the southwest Houston district's Democratic runoff.

The prize for most efficient spending in a runoff victory goes to Republican Texas Supreme Court Place 4 nominee John Devine, who defeated incumbent Justice David Medina. Devine spent only $0.18 per vote.

Use the interactive below to sort the state candidates by a number of metrics.

Candidate Party Race District/Place Votes Results Expenses Cost Per Vote
Campbell, Donna R Texas Senate 25 45,292 Won $239,632.75 $5.29
Wentworth, Jeff R Texas Senate 25 23,168 Lost $385,347.44 $16.63
Chisum, Warren R Texas Railroad Commission 1 398,124 Lost $128,826.51 $0.32
Craddick, Christi R Texas Railroad Commission 1 592,411 Won $509,469.48 $0.86
Parker, Greg R Texas Railroad Commission 2 355,245 Lost $3,930.12 $0.01
Smitherman, Barry R Texas Railroad Commission 2 583,022 Won $817,199.18 $1.40
Anderson, Tucker R Texas House 12 4,083 Lost $39,814.47 $9.75
Bonnen, Greg R Texas House 24 8,578 Won $108,045.42 $12.60
Canales, Terry D Texas House 40 3,209 Won $30,820.84 $9.60
Chaumette, Jacquie R Texas House 26 5,000 Lost $43,893.95 $8.78
Clardy, Travis R Texas House 11 8,184 Won $47,778.65 $5.84
Cole, Jon R Texas House 67 4,840 Lost $55,512.97 $11.47
Collier, Nicole D Texas House 95 4,857 Won $42,129.82 $8.67
Cortez, Philip D Texas House 117 1,800 Won $38,068.30 $21.15
Faircloth, Wayne R Texas House 23 4,958 Won $38,350.25 $7.74
Gaines, Jesse D Texas House 95 3,244 Lost $10,841.31 $3.34
Hernandez Jr., Agustin D Texas House 40 2,850 Lost $4,497.66 $1.58
Hopson, Chuck R Texas House 11 7,817 Lost $171,338.83 $21.92
Kacal, Kyle R Texas House 12 4,230 Won $56,171.47 $13.28
Keffer, Bill R Texas House 114 5,680 Lost $67,350.90 $11.86
King, Ken R Texas House 88 7,541 Won $163,845.72 $21.73
Klick, Stephanie R Texas House 91 4,670 Won $52,927.36 $11.33
Landtroop, Jim R Texas House 88 6,426 Lost $142,528.74 $22.18
Leach, Jeff R Texas House 67 5,545 Won $60,356.35 $10.88
Lozano, Jose Manuel R Texas House 43 3,252 Won $126,063.97 $38.77
McKnight, Trent R Texas House 68 6,520 Lost $93,556.76 $14.35
Miller, Sid R Texas House 59 7,153 Lost $277,028.55 $38.73
Miller, Rick R Texas House 26 6,851 Won $34,993.68 $5.11
Nguyen, Steve R Texas House 115 4,404 Lost $163,680.11 $37.17
Ratliff, Bennett R Texas House 115 4,759 Won $109,697.47 $23.05
Sapp, Kenneth R Texas House 91 4,007 Lost $58,163.64 $14.52
Sheffield, J.D. R Texas House 59 8,673 Won $27,787.95 $3.20
Sitton, Ryan R Texas House 24 6,281 Lost $82,138.62 $13.08
Smith, Jamaal D Texas House 137 433 Lost $25,417.18 $58.70
Springer, Drew R Texas House 68 8,429 Won $99,327.55 $11.78
Torres, Tina D Texas House 117 1,360 Lost $36,744.43 $27.02
Villalba, Jason R Texas House 114 6,098 Won $74,415.01 $12.20
Wallace, William O. R Texas House 23 3,856 Lost $13,931.91 $3.61
Wilson II, Bill T. R Texas House 43 2,754 Lost $39,834.83 $14.46
Wu, Gene D Texas House 137 695 Won $41,696.09 $59.99
Devine, John R Supreme Court of Texas 4 498,937 Won $90,215.68 $0.18
Medina, David R Supreme Court of Texas 4 437,637 Lost $283,325.59 $0.65
Cortez Jr., Ruben D SBOE 2 20,252 Won $9,635.44 $0.48
Maynard, Tom R SBOE 10 36,099 Won $21,387.65 $0.59
Miller, Geraldine R SBOE 12 44,070 Won $20,971.31 $0.48
Osborne, Rebecca R SBOE 10 35,120 Lost $296.54 $0.01
Sanchez, Celeste Zepeda D SBOE 2 19,794 Lost $14,290.22 $0.72
Spurlock, Gail R SBOE 12 28,960 Lost $600.93 $0.02