The Associated Press reports :

BOSTON --Of all the money spent during this year's record-breaking campaign for governor, more than half came from just three donors -- Kerry Healey, Christy Mihos and Chris Gabrieli.

All three, who also happened to be candidates, lost.

The presence of multimillionaire candidates helped drive the total amount spent on the campaign for governor during the two-year election cycle to $42.3 million, according to a report released Tuesday.

That smashes the previous record of $30.6 million set during the 2002 campaign, when Gov. Mitt Romney pumped $6.3 million of his own money into his winning campaign, according to the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance. Romney decided not to seek re-election as he explores a possible run for president in 2008.

"The two factors that drove the governor's race was the vacancy in the office and the presence of several wealthy candidates who put in a significant amount of their own money," said Denis Kennedy, a spokesman for the campaign finance office. "In the last election the only candidate spending a significant amount on his own campaign was Mitt Romney."