WASHINGTON – Florida GOP Gov. Rick Scott spent nearly $63.6 million of his own money to win a U.S. Senate seat in November – a staggering self-funding record for a congressional campaign.

By unseating three-term Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson, Scott also bucked a trend. The vast majority of congressional candidates who dig deep into their own piggy banks to finance their campaigns lose.

From the 1998 election cycle through 2018, 283 candidates for the House and Senate gave or loaned themselves at least $1 million, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign finance data.

Most reached into their own wallets and pocketbooks for the bulk of their money, providing about seven of every 10 dollars they raised for their campaigns, according to the center.

Of those, only 50 won (32 House and 18 Senate), or fewer than one in five.

That trend held in 2018.

Of the 15 Senate self-funding candidates in this cycle, only Scott and two others emerged victorious: Republican Mike Braun of Indiana who loaned himself $10.6 million and beat Democratic Incumbent Joe Donnelly; and incumbent Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who won a fifth full term with the help of $3 million she donated to her campaign, according to Federal Election Commission records.

And of the 24 House contestants, only six won. That includes Democrat David Trone, who loaned or gave himself almost all of the $16.5 million he raised to capture Maryland's open 6th District seat. Two years ago, Trone lost the same race despite shelling out $13.4 million of his own money.

So why do self-funders have such a poor record of success?

Many of them come from the business world making their first runs for office. In their roles as executives calling the shots, they often don't have to engage in the glad-handing and face-to-face relationships required of political campaigns, said Meredith McGehee, a campaign finance expert and executive director of Issue One, a government reform advocacy group.

“The skill set they brought to their campaigns doesn’t translate very well into being a good politician and I think that’s why they often lose," she said. "A good politician is a good retail sales person and retail sales is its own world. And there are a lot of (self-funders) whose skills are in wholesale.”

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Candidates willing to write campaign hefty checks also miss opportunities to connect with voters because they don't hold as many fundraisers or get on the phone to make personal pitches for help as much as their opponents do, experts say.

Of the nearly $1.7 billion the 283 self-funders raised since 1998, about 70 percent came from their own fortunes, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Self-funders, such as Scott, do have a compelling argument to make: They don't have to answer to industry lobbies or party leaders. It was a pitch Donald Trump frequently made during his 2016 presidential campaign and one many of his supporters cited as a reason they voted for him.

"In every election cycle, there’s always someone who does succeed (by saying) they can’t be bought," McGehee said. "Because the system is so broken, that is very attractive."

The $63.6 million Scott spent in his Florida race made up nearly 77 percent of the $83.7 million he raised for the race, which he narrowly won over Nelson: a 10,033-margin out of nearly 8.2 million ballots cast.

When he got into the race in April, Scott hinted he would dip into his bank account, saying, "I'm going to do whatever I can to win this election."

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Scott, who made his fortune as a health care company CEO, has a track record of self-funding.

He forked over roughly $90 million to win two gubernatorial contests, in 2010 and 2014, meaning he has squeezed about $150 million from his bank account in the past decade to gain public office.

The Scott campaign said the self-funding was necessary to combat the tens of millions outside groups poured into the race to help Nelson.

"They failed, because the people of Florida chose a U.S. Senator who answers to them, not D.C. party bosses," said Chris Hartline, a Scott campaign spokesman. "Governor Scott has been blessed with success in his life and has always been willing to serve the people of Florida and the United States and give back to the country that allowed him to live the American Dream."