The committees that supported and opposed Massachusetts' three ballot questions this year spent more than $11.5 million over the course of their campaigns, according to a recent study by the Office of Campaign and Political Finance.

The money came from individuals, unions, corporations and other entities, according to the report. The large sum of money did not set a record for spending on ballot questions in the Bay State, though, as $16 million was spent in 1992 on four ballot questions.

On each question, the side that spent the most won. The starkest difference in spending occurred on Question 1, which would have abolished the state income tax. Opponents of that measure spent $7.4 million, while those that supported it only contributed $487,000. On Question 2, which decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana, the advocates for the measure spent $1.5 million, while its opponents spent $76,000. And the Committee to Protect Dogs, which campaigned for the banning of dog racing, spent $905,000 while in-kind and individual contributions bumped up the total spent in support of the question to $1.3 million. The opponents of the measure, on the other hand, spent $667,000 in their failed effort.

The opponents of Question 1 relied on education unions for large contributions. The Massachusetts Teachers Association gave $3.4 million to the effort and the National Education Association chipped in $1.5 million. In contrast, the proponents of Question 1 received their largest contributions from individuals. Craig Franklin was their top contributor, giving $25,000.

Question 2's campaign raked in more than a million from the Marijuana Policy Project and also received a $400,000 contribution from liberal activist and financier George Soros. Opponents of the question received $21,400 from the Save our Society from Drugs Committee and $5,000 from the Free and Strong America Political Action Committee, former Gov. Mitt Romney's PAC.

And the Committee to Protect Dogs, which successfully campaigned in favor of Question 3, received more than $527,000 from the Humane Society of the United States and $352,000 from Grey2K USA, an animal rights nonprofit.

There is no limit to contributions to ballot question committees under Massachusetts State law.

UPDATE, Tuesday 11:08 A.M.: Carey Theil, the campaign manager of the Committee to Protect Dogs, told PolitickerMA.com Tuesday that the OCPF's report is flawed with regard to his committee's fundraising. The OCPF report, he said, included money from its effort in 2006. Of the $905,000 the report said the committee spent, $161,000 of that was from 2006. The report also included $137,000 in in-kind contributions from 2006 in his final number.