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Republican Joel Abelove won the Rensselaer County district attorney office in November, but spent less on his campaign than Democrat Carmelo Laquidara did.

According to the most recent election finance filings at the state Board of Elections, Laquidara's campaign spent at least $116,976 while the Friends of Joel Abelove shelled out around $84,000.

"I'm fiscally conservative," Abelove joked Monday. "We spent what we thought we had to and I guess we were right."

Abelove defeated Laquidara by 492 votes, winning 22,981 to 22,489. The results were finalized after the board spent three days counting absentee ballots.

Laquidara and his campaign manager, Cohoes Councilman Ralph Signoracci, spent more than $40,000 on campaign literature and postage and $38,000 on television advertisements. The Democrat also spent $9,000 for direct mail and consulting from Blue State Strategies in Albany. Signoracci was paid $11,622 for his work.

Abelove, who had no specific manager, spent at least $32,000 on television and radio spots, literature and postage, according to the filings. His campaign likely spent more than that as the last days of the campaign wound down but Abelove has yet to file an updated itemized list of expenditures.

Abelove and his family loaned his campaign $40,000.

Laquidara took out a $15,000 loan to help his campaign, according to the filings.

Republicans believed the backlash over Gov. Andrew Cuomo's SAFE Act boosted their appeal with voters, especially in rural areas.

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