Money & Politics | Daily Report

By now, we all know Meg Whitman has spent enough on her gubernatorial campaign to run some small countries – $99 million and counting – while Jerry Brown, playing the pauper, has spent a little more on his entire campaign than Whitman has spent on postage (yes, really).

But now that campaign spending has hit high gear, it's time to ask again: What exactly does $99 million buy?

Lots of TV and radio spots, it turns out. More than half of Whitman's spending so far – about $55 million – has gone into TV and radio buys. Payments to consultants are also fast approaching $10 million, with at least 56 different firms getting a cut of the action.

She has spent about $14 million since the June primary – most of it on media buys.

California Watch created a quick visualization that shows Whitman's spending so far. For reference, the two little, unlabeled yellow bubbles at the bottom, which account for postage and campaign schwag, actually represent a little less than the $633,000 Brown has spent overall.