During the general election campaign period large expenditures were made by the Republican and Democratic Governors Association: $714,500 by the Republicans to support State Senator Woodcock, the Republican nominee, and $550,000 by the Democrats to support Democrat Baldacci in his reelection bid. Green candidate LaMarche challenged these expenditures as not truly “independent” in a case before the Maine Supreme Court heard on October 31, 2006. The court did not grant LaMarche’s claim. In a related claim, Barbara Merrill challenged the "independence" of consultant services benefiting the Baldacci campaign before the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics in a hearing held on October 31, 2006. The Commission did not support Merrill’s claim.