Democratic legislative candidates have benefited from nearly $500,000 in spending during the past week by three independent expenditure groups.

The spending spree was funded primarily by the Arizona Democratic Party, a labor union and a group that advocates for pro-choice Democratic women candidates.

Victory 2008, an independent expenditure committee established by the state Democratic Party, spent $215,552 on mailers supporting Democratic candidates and attacking Republican candidates between Oct. 15 and Oct. 21.

One Republican political strategist said it was only the tip of the Democratic iceberg.

"Legitimately, this is 10- to 15 percent of what they're going to spend," said Nathan Sproul, who owns consulting firm Lincoln Strategy Group.

He estimated the Democratic Party may ultimately spend as much as $2 million on state legislative races before Election Day.

The state Republican Party, meanwhile, has raised fewer dollars this election cycle than in 2006 and has about $73,000 cash on hand as of late September. It has no independent expenditure committees to support legislative candidates. The party is due to file its next campaign finance report Oct. 23.

The state Democratic Party's independent expenditure committee was actually outspent by Arizonans for a Healthy Economy, which is managed by the firefighters union but funded primarily by Arizona List and the Service Employees International Union. That committee spent $230,424 on signs and mailers in support of Democrats.

A third committee, Responsible Arizonan's (sic), spent slightly more than $76,000 on mailers for Democratic candidates. Funding for the committee hasn't been revealed, but at least one of its officers is an SEIU official.

The spending was disclosed in trigger reports filed Oct. 21 with the Secretary of State's Office. The reports are used to determine how much additional campaign money the Citizens Clean Elections Commission will award to publicly financed opponents of the candidates who benefit from the independent electioneering.

Warde Nichols, who is seeking re-election to a third term in the House of Representatives, was the most-targeted Republican. The independent expenditures paid for five different mailers in his district, which encompasses east Chandler and Queen Creek. Four of the mailers advocated for Democrat Phil Hettmansperger, while the fifth attacked Nichols.

In all, the three groups spent more than $78,000 to support Hettmansperger, who lost to Nichols two years ago by 863 votes.

The committees also spent more than $65,000 for signs and mailers touting the candidacy of Democrat Andrea Dalessandro in District 30, a predominantly Republican district in southern Arizona that includes the eastern parts of Tucson and Sierra Vista.

Dalessandro is the only Democract in the race.

Other notable expenditures include:

• More than $51,000 in the District 12 House race, including $17,500 in mailers attacking Republican incumbent Jerry Weiers;
• Nearly $48,000 supporting Eric Meyer in District 11 to retain the seat won by Democrats two years ago;
• About $41,400 in the Northwest Tucson District 26 House contest, where Democrats gained one seat in 2006 and hope to capture both this year;
• Almost $37,300 for Bill Jeffers in District 5, which spans much of the eastern part of Arizona, against Republican incumbent Sylvia Allen, who was appointed to replace the late Jake Flake earlier this year;
• And nearly $34,000 to support incumbent Jackie Thrasher and Lamont Lovejoy in the District 10 House race against House Speaker Jim Weiers and former Rep. Doug Quelland, who lost to Thrasher two years ago.