Gov. spent $6.9 million in weeks around recall

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - New campaign finance reports show Republican Gov. Scott Walker spent $6.9 million in the weeks surrounding the June 5 recall election.

Walker spent $6.9 million between May 22 and June 27. He raised $6.8 million and had $1.6 million on hand at the end of that span.

He has raised roughly $37.4 million since he took office in January 2011, obliterating his own record of $11 million raised in the 2010 gubernatorial race and single-handedly matching the total spending by all candidates and outside groups in that contest.

Democrats forced Walker into a recall to punish him for a number of contentious policies, including cuts to education and a plan stripping most public workers of nearly all their union rights. Walker easily defeated Democratic challenger Tom Barrett in the election.