Here's how much council candidates spent on their campaigns

It can take big money to run for city council, but disclosure filings with Elections Calgary show top spenders don't always get the most votes.

Every candidate who ran in last October's municipal election was supposed to file their campaign expenses and donations by March 1. They show former councillor Jeromy Farkas spent nearly $200,000 more than now-mayor Jyoti Gondek.

Farkas, who served one term as the Ward 11 councillor, spent $821,241 to finish second in voting, while Gondek $633,342 spent to win.

"Having the most money doesn't guarantee that you're going to win," said Lisa Young, a political scientist at the University of Calgary.

"It isn't necessarily the marker that you are the most popular candidate."

Farkas wasn't the only mayoral candidate to spend big only to lose. Jan Damery finished fifth in the vote for mayor, spending $437,083 to do so. Jeff Davison, who finished third in the race for the mayor's chair, spent $359,545

Brad Field, who finished fourth in voting, didn't filed his campaign disclosure by the March 1 deadline.

Of the 197 candidates for mayor and council, 139 of them filed on time -- two have filed since the deadline. Late filings result in a $500 fine and candidates who do not submit their disclosure by March 11 will be ineligible to run in another municipal election for three to eight years.

THE COST OF A COUNCIL SEAT

Some council candidates also spent big on their way to being elected to city hall.

Ward 9 councillor Gina-Carlo Carra spent more than $200,000 in his re-election bid, the most by any councillor.

Spending the least on a successful campaign was Ward 2 councillor Jennifer Wyness, who spent just $13,632. She beat incumbent Joe Magliocca, who was charged with fraud during the campaign and spent more than $103,000 on his failed re-election bid.

REPEATING DONORS AND NOTABLE NAMES

There are thousands of individual donors who pledged money to the nearly 200 candidates. Donations ranged from less than $50 to $5,000, with some people shelling out the maximum amount to several candidates.

Calgary Flames co-owner Allan Markin donated $5,000 to both the Gondek and Davison campaigns, for example. Shane and Cal Wenzel of Shane Homes also show up on several disclosure filings of candidates for varying amounts.

Alberta's new justice minister, Tyler Shandro, made a $400 donation to the campaign of Sean Chu on August 11, 2021. Chu was elected to a third term in Ward 4 after it was revealed during the campaign that he had allegedly sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl while he was a police officer in the late 1990's.

All of the disclosure filings will be available on the Elections Calgary website by the end of the month.