Money can’t buy you love, and apparently, it also can’t always buy a congressional seat in Illinois.

The 2012 election will be remembered for many things, including being the first Super PAC election. This is the first election influenced by the Supreme Court decision that allowed huge Political Action Committees, or Super PACs, and other groups to spend unlimited funds on elections.

And spend they did. More than $45 million was spent on Illinois congressional races. That’s more than any other state but California, and it’s about the same amount that former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a huge campaign spender, spent in two gubernatorial elections.