Susan Collins' failed challenger Sara Gideon still has more than $14 million in unused campaign funds

• Sara Gideon, the former Maine House Speaker who ran a failed race against Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, has more than $14 million in unused campaign funds following her loss, CQ Roll Call reported.

• Gideon becomes one of a number of failed candidates who were successful in raising funds for their bids for office but were ultimately unsuccessful in winning their races.

• In comparison, Jamie Harrison, who unsuccessfully challenged South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, had just $840,000 left on hand following his loss, according to the report.

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Sara Gideon, the Democrat who this year ran an unsuccessful challenge to Main Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, still has more than $14 million in unused campaign funds on hand, according to campaign finance records first reported by CQ Roll Call.

According to the Friday report, campaign finance expressed said the amount - $14.8 million - was atypical following a race.

"That is an extremely large amount of money to have left over after a campaign, but there is only so much money you can spend in a state like Maine given the number and size of its media markets," Democratic campaign finance lawyer Brett Kappel told CQ Roll Call.

While Gideon had shown promising signs during the campaign of ousting Collins, a longtime Republican senator, the incumbent ultimately won her bid for reelection securing 51% of the vote to Gideon's 42%.

It's unclear how Gideon, the former speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, plans to use the remaining funds, according to the report. Gideon did not immediately return a request for comment from Business Insider on Sunday afternoon.

In a press release last week, Gideon announced she'd be donating a fraction - $350,000 - of the unspent fund to two Maine charities: Full Plates, Full Potential and Keep ME Warm.

"Full Plates, Full Potential and Keep ME Warm work every day to help Maine families through this difficult time, and I'm proud to support them," she said in the news release. "I've always believed that public service is about making a difference and improving the lives of people in your community. Helping Maine people is what inspired me to run for office and it's what continues to guide me today."

Other failed 2020 hopefuls also raised record funds to lackluster results.

Jamie Harrison, the Democrat who unsuccessfully challenged Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham for his South Carolina seat, raised a record $57 million in fundraising in the last quarter of the race, as Politico reported in October.

Harrison beat a record previously held by former Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who raised some $38.1 million in the third quarter during his failed 2018 challenge to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, according to a previous Business Insider report. Following the election, Harrison had just $840,000 cash remaining on hand - more than 17 times less than what remained for Gideon, despite his raising more than 130 million during the course of the race.

Republicans this year have also spent large sums of money to similarly disappointing results. President Donald Trump's campaign for re-election spent $3 million for a vote recount in Wisconsin's largest county as part of his continued, baseless effort to overturn the election results in his favor. Following the pricey recount, President-elect Joe Biden increased his lead over Trump in the county by some 132 votes. 

Former Arizona Sen. Martha McSally, a Republican, reported having nearly $6.8 million left unspent following her loss, and John James, a Republican who ran a failed US Senate campaign in Michigan, had $2.5 million left over, according to the CQ Roll Call.

According to the report, Gideon can use the remaining funds for a number of purposes, including charitable donations, transferring an unlimited number of funds to Democratic Party committees, and donations to candidates for office that fall within campaign finance limits.

Gideon has already donated in the two Georgia runoff Senate races, the report said.

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