COLUMBIA, S.C. - Candidates spent a record $24 million running for the U.S. Senate seat of retiring Democrat Ernest "Fritz" Hollings in 2004.

Republican Jim DeMint, who in November beat Democrat Inez Tenenbaum, spent a total of $9 million, according to campaign finance reports, the last of which had to be filed Monday.

"Two years ago, I told everyone this would be a $6 million race, and no one believed it would cost that much," DeMint said. "I had no idea it would end up costing more."

Tenenbaum, the state superintendent of education, spent $6.2 million.

"It was a top-tier race that attracted a lot of attention across the country, and it was competitive all the way through," said Zeke Stokes, Tenenbaum's campaign finance director.

The $15.2 million DeMint and Tenenbaum spent more than doubled the $7 million spent by Hollings and Republican Bob Inglis in 1998.

DeMint's most generous supporters were those in the financial, insurance and real estate industries. Lawyers and lobbyists gave the most to Tenenbaum.

Add to their $15.2 million the money spent by their competition in the primary and general elections, and the price tag for the 2004 race approaches $24 million. That includes spending by three strong candidates in the GOP primary - $3.3 million by Charleston developer Thomas Ravenel; $2.7 million by former Gov. David Beasley; and $1.5 million by former Attorney General Charlie Condon - and more than $1 million by eight other candidates.

The money spent in the race far exceeds the $10.3 million spent two years earlier by Republican Lindsey Graham and Democrat Alex Sanders in the U.S. Senate race Graham won.

The campaigns say that although DeMint ending up winning by 10 points, the DeMint-Tenenbaum race was tight. That spurred individual donors in nearly every state to give to the candidates, as well as generous contributions from political parties.

Plus, neither Graham nor Sanders had a competitive primary. DeMint had to win a primary, a runoff and then the general election.

And campaign costs rise with each election cycle. In 2002, a winning U.S. Senate candidate spent an average of $5 million, according to Sheila Krumholz, research director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington nonprofit that follows money in campaigns. In 2004, the winner spent an average of $7.6 million.