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PHOENIX — Payday lenders have already put up nearly $9 million to try to persuade voters to keep the industry alive in Arizona — with more than two months to go before the vote.

The lenders are putting up the money to try to make a temporary exemption from the limit on interest rates permanent.

State law generally limits the annual interest on loans to 36 percent.

But in 2000 lawmakers approved a special exception for payday lenders allowing people to borrow up to $500 for up to two weeks, with the lender taking a postdated check for the loan amount plus up to $17.85 per $100 borrowed.

That law, however, self-destructs in 2010, putting payday loan stores out of business. Lawmakers have so far refused to extend the expiration date.

Proposition 200 bypasses the Legislature, taking the case directly to the public.

To offset criticism they charge excessive interest rates to those least able to pay, the industry-backed initiative lowers fees slightly, to $15 per $100 borrowed, and provides interest-free extensions to those unable to pay off the debt after two weeks if they make timely payments.

All that spending, however, does not guarantee success.

Two years ago, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. spent close to $8.8 million in its effort to get voters to ban smoking in public places, but not in bars. That proposal, however, got only 43 percent of the vote, as Arizonans instead adopted a more comprehensive smoking ban — one financed with just $1.8 million.

The figure, however, is still far from the record set in 2002 when Indian tribes put up $21.1 million fighting to keep the right to operate casino-style gaming and allow expansion into new areas like blackjack.

Opposition to the payday-loan initiative is being financed by much smaller donations, including $13,000 from the Center for Responsible Lending in North Carolina, and $10,000 each from the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 99 and the Service Employees International Union.

The payday-loan initiative is one of several campaigns already in the seven-figure range.

A distant second in the fundraising sweepstakes, the Arizona Association of Realtors has ponied up all of the $2.4 million for Proposition 100.

There is no organized opposition to the initiative, which would constitutionally ban the state from taxing the sale or transfer of real estate. There is no such levy now, but one has been proposed in the past.

The other big money raisers include:

● Funding for a proposal to constitutionally ban gay marriage has hit at least $1.3 million. The largest contributors to Proposition 102 are David and Nancy LeSueur and Wilford and Kathleen Andersen of Mesa, Gary and Lori Wagner of Peoria, and the Pete King Corp. of Phoenix; each gave $100,000.

Opponents have so far accumulated less than $8,000.

● Backers of a plan to make it harder for voters to approve new taxes or spending have so far collected about more than $1 million. More than 60 percent of that comes from MJKL Enterprises, the firm run by Jason LeVecke, which owns the Carl's Jr. and Pizza Patron franchises in Arizona, with another $150,000 from the PDG Trust which is controlled by LeVecke.

Proposition 105 would require at least 50 percent of those registered to vote to approve any new taxes or any plan that mandates more spending, not only by the state, but by any private group.

Opposition has been organized by two officials of the Arizona Education Association, which has raised about $93,000, with $50,000 from the Arizona School Boards Association.

Three initiatives that have been ruled off the ballot, at least for now, were among the most successful at raising money.

Nearly $1 million has been raised for Proposition 104, a proposal to wipe out affirmative-action programs in Arizona, virtually all from the national committee set up by Californian Ward Connerly.

Proposition 203, a proposal to raise the state sales tax by a penny, has $1.1 million in contributions, mostly from construction companies that could benefit from the road construction and rail projects that would be built with the $43 billion the tax would bring in over 30 years.

Proposition 103, which would put 570,000 acres of state trust land off-limits to development, got $714,000 of its $1.1 million from the Nature Conservancy.

Propositions 103, 104 and 203 have all been found to have insufficient signatures to qualify for the ballot, but could still be put on by a court ruling.

Others with significant contributions thus far include:

● Proposition 201, to require developers to provide 10-year warranties on new homes, is so far being financed with about $360,000 from the Sheet Metal Workers International Association. The opposition, has collected about $87,000, virtually all from the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona.

● Businesses organized as Wake Up Arizona have so far provided about $375,0000 of the $525,000 total raised for Proposition 202, which would dilute many of the provisions of the employer sanctions law adopted by the Legislature last year. It allows a judge to suspend or revoke the licenses of any firm found guilty of knowingly hiring undocumented workers.

● More than $434,000 has been raised for Proposition 101, which would constitutionally bar state adoption of any universal-care plan that requires individuals or businesses to obtain health insurance or pay into a special fund.