The cost of campaigns

I wonder if there is a website or other source that publishes how much each candidate spends on campaigning. I think much of this information is available for presidential candidates, but is this information also available for local campaigns?

My problem is that I often don't know much about some of the lesser known candidates. In those cases, I would like to make my choice based on how much they spent on their campaign. One could argue, I suppose, that every dollar spent on a campaign is good for the economy. I prefer to be more cynical: most dollars spent are provided or inspired by special interests that hope to gain from the candidate's being elected.

I propose that, in those cases where we have little to go on, we vote for the person whose campaign is least costly. Wouldn't it be great if this approach were so prevalent that campaign managers were careful not to have the highest cost campaign? It would be a sort of voluntary McCain-Feingold law, helping prevent the excesses we have seen in recent campaigns.