only on decorahnews.com: State Assembly race between Roger Thomas and Michael Klimesh cost $295,000

Tuesday is the filing deadline for campaign financing reports for the November 2012 election, but both Democrat Roger Thomas and Republican Michael Klimesh have already filed their final reports for their campaigns.

The reports again showed the importance of in-kind spending by the state Republican and Democratic Parties on behalf of legislative candidates.

Thomas' reports show he spent $40,815 in cash expenses, but also had $141,436 spent on his behalf by the State Democratic Party and others.  Klimesh's reports show he spent $25,462 in cash expenses and had other groups, including State Republicans, spend $87,404 on his behalf.

When those figures are totaled, Thomas' campaign cost $182,251 and Klimesh's cost $112,866--or a total of $295,117.