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Four food companies that sell organic, dairy-free or GMO-free products have poured $140,000 into Oregon GMO Right to Know, the group collecting signatures to place a GMO labeling initiative on the Nov. 4 ballot.

The big donations signal that food companies marketing healthy and sustainable products are willing to spend big to support the initiative. The contributions also portend what many political observers expect to be one of the most expensive ballot measures in Oregon history, with supporters already raising nearly $1.1 million.

Washington voters rejected a GMO labeling initiative last November that sparked a record $22 million in spending from food and biotech companies opposed to the measure. A similar initiative was defeated in California in 2012 by fewer than three percentage points. Opponents there spent $46 million fighting the measure.

GMO Right to Know must submit 87,213 valid signatures by July 3 to qualify for the November ballot. The group has so far spent nearly $630,000 on a signature gathering firm.