Dec. 27 (Bloomberg) — Barack Obama surpassed all other presidential rivals in a record-setting 2008 U.S. election campaign that generated $1.7 billion in spending by candidates.

Campaign spending was more than double that of four years ago, the candidates’ Federal Election Commission filings show.

In capturing the presidency, Obama, 47, became the first major-party nominee to reject federal funding for the general election. He spent $740.6 million, eclipsing the combined $646.7 million that Republican President George W. Bush and Democratic nominee John Kerry spent four years earlier. Obama accounted for 44 percent of the money spent by the 2008 candidates.

The FEC filings, covering the campaigns through the end of November, marked the first time that total spending by all presidential candidates surpassed $1 billion.

“A billion dollars may not go far to bail out Wall Street, but it’s still an enormous sum for a presidential race,” said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based research group.

By contrast, all candidates spent a total of $820.3 million in 2004 and $500.9 million in 2000.