Today’s vote ends the most expensive presidential campaign in US history. Candidates raised more than $1.5 billion during the primary and general election. This marks the first time a presidential race has topped $1 billion. Barack Obama alone raised more than $600 million as he dropped out of the public financing system.

Sheila Krumholz, of the Center For Responsive Politics: “The Obama campaign, in particular, has had incredible success. To give some perspective, Obama raised in just one month $150 million. That’s about half of what John Kerry raised in the last presidential election throughout his entire campaign. So there’s really no comparison between this cycle’s spending and funds dedicated to previous presidential elections. We’re on a different plane entirely.”

With the fundraising edge, Barack Obama has been able to vastly outspend John McCain on campaign ads. A new study by Neilsen reveals that Obama ran 77 percent more TV ads last weekend in the key swing states of Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Both campaigns advertised most heavily in Florida. Over the past month, Obama ran nearly 25,000 ads in the state, nearly three times as many as McCain.