Valley state Senate race is expensive

Nearly $6 million has been spent on the campaigns in the 5th Senate District, a good chunk of it by committees independent of candidates Cathleen Galgiani and Bill Berryhill.

As of Monday, independent spending stood at close to $2.4 million, the state Fair Political Practices Commission reported.

The candidates' committees spent about $3.4 million as of Oct. 20, according to the latest reports from the secretary of state's office.

Berryhill, a Republican, and Galgiani, a Democrat, are running in Tuesday's election in a district that takes in all of San Joaquin County, most of Modesto and Salida, Riverbank and Empire. Both candidates now serve in the Assembly.

The reports show that, as expected, the 5th District is among the most strongly contested this year. A win by Galgiani could bring Democrats close to the two-thirds majority needed in the state Senate to approve tax increases or certain other measures without Republican votes.

Berryhill's campaign committee reported $629,283 in contributions from Oct. 1 through 20, according to the secretary of state's office. That brought his total since Jan. 1 to $1,834,358.

The report shows the committee spending $769,060 in the latest period and $1,780,348 for the year. Counting money raised before Jan. 1, Berryhill had $345,047 on hand as of Oct. 20.

A total of $941,751 was spent as of Monday by independent committees formed to support Berryhill or oppose Galgiani, according to the FPPC.

This included $232,588 by the California Senior Advocates League PAC and $649,366 from Citizens for California Reform.

Galgiani's committee reported $545,080 in contributions for the latest period and $1,667,563 for the year. She reported spending $753,432 in the period and $1,642,592 for the year.

Galgiani had $126,159 on hand as of Oct. 20.

Independent committees spent $1,430,386 to support Galgiani or oppose Berryhill as of Monday.