Campaign finance reports are now in for the first 90 days or so of 2006, and while the above headline refers to the new contribution limits for gubernatorial campaigns, there's a pretty noticeable amount of money being spent all across the political spectrum.

Some highlights (focusing, as you might guess, on the biggest race):

* Arnold, Phil, & Steve: Fundraising efforts for all three major campaigns for governor has picked up since the end of 2005. The biggest change, given that he started in the red, was for Governor Schwarzenegger, whose reelection campaign raised $5.18 million and ended the filing period (through March 17) with $3.87 million in the bank.

Democratic contender Phil Angelides reported raising about $2.38 million so far in 2006, and ended the filing period with about $14.5 million in the bank.

And Democratic contender Steve Westly...well, we're still awaiting his report as of this posting (just around 9:15 pm).

[THURS AM UPDATE: Westly's report shows about $3.6 million in contributions, and $23 million in the bank]

* I Owe Myself: It's not unusual for candidates to have to fork open their own wallets for some expenses. And given how competitive campaigns can be, it's not unusual for the candidate to be the last one paid back.

But the governor certainly seems to be piling up some big IOUs from his campaign. Schwarzenegger's own company, Oak Productions, is reported as being owed $488,364.29-- with almost all of it being spent since the start of the year. In fact, that's more than half of all his campaign's outstanding debt (one other creditor of note: his state chief of staff, Susan Kennedy, who is owed $15,000 in consulting fees).

So what did Schwarzenegger's own company front the money for? Mostly it was for his private jet, which appears to have cost about $340,000 in a little more than three months.

* I Say "Spend It": The governor and the Legislature still haven't worked out their differences over a major infrastructure plan, and yet a good chunk of cash has already been spent trying to get voters to pay attention. Senate President Don Perata's "Rebuilding California" campaign has spent about $833,000 so far this year, mostly on TV ads supporting Perata's infrastructure proposal. That's in addition to large TV ad buy reported to be in the $2 million range in recent weeks by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to support the governor's proposal.

* Still Collecting: Campaign accounts often continue to thrive for months, even years, after their original issue seems to disappear from the radar. You can add to that list the opponents to last November's redistricting measure, Proposition 77. The "No on 77" campaign still has about $466,000 on hand, with almost half being raised since January, including a single $100,000 donation from the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians. New efforts to change the redistricting process, it should be noted, are pending in the Legislature.

* Elsewhere: The Yes on Proposition 82 campaign, advocating universal preschool and spearheaded by actor/director Rob Reiner, raised $2 million raised, with $1.7 million cash on hand)... while the counterweight "No on 82" campaign was not as active (about $81,000 cash on hand). And the largest war chest for a "down ticket" race still appears to be Bill Lockyer, the current Attorney General who's running for Treasurer (about $9.5 million on hand).