Soon-to-be-former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine spent $131 million of his own money on his three political campaigns since he was forced out of his management position at Goldman Sachs. After 9 years in office (first as a Senator then as Governor) the soon-to-be-unemployed Democrat has nothing to show for that fortune except the metaphorical bruises from his recent loss to Governor-elect Republican Chris Christie.

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While most Senators have reached the millionaire level (see them all along with their estimated net worth here) and spend significant amounts of their personal wealth to advance their careers, Mr. Corzine is in an elite league. He has spent more of his own money to run for office than anyone in US history other than New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg who self-financed his three successful campaigns. (source)

You may be thinking politics is an expensive game. It is.

And you may believe that the major New Jersey media markets (New York City and Philadelphia) are not cheap. They're not.

But if you said winning the New Jersey gubernatorial election requires the kind of huge investment Mr. Corzine made, you'd be absolutely wrong. Mr. Christie did it after spending a mere $11.4 million compared to the $27 million Mr. Corzine spent ($25.3 million of it his own). And most of Christie's expenditures fell under a $10.9 million limit for candidates receiving public funding.

The defeated governor never learned during his tenure in Trenton that the people of New Jersey do not want a tax and spend liberal who thinks the solution to every problem is to throw more money at it. At least when it came to his campaigns, he kept dipping into his own pocket instead of the taxpayers'.