Leading candidates in the recent Auckland mayoral contest spent a total of $2 million on their campaigns.
Election spending and donation returns required by Friday show the biggest spender by far was unsuccessful candidate John Banks.
In winning the race for the Auckland mayoralty, Len Brown spent $580,000.
Mr Banks spent $948,000 including $143,000 of his own money.
The candidate who dug deepest was Colin Craig, who spent $570,000 of his own money to finish a distant third.
Legislation limited spending on an Auckland mayoral campaign to $587,000 in the three-month election period, but Mr Brown and Mr Banks spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in the preceding months.
Mr Brown is not listed as a contributor to his campaign, although the bulk of the campaign funding was chanelled through a trust as anonymous donations.
