How Chad Bachynski became Regina's mayor with just $12,000

Regina's new mayor says he is proof that it doesn't take money to succeed in politics.

Financial records tabled at Regina city council on Wednesday show Bachynski's campaign spent a little more than $12,000 during the 2024 municipal election.

"$12,000 is a lot of money, it really is," Bachynski said on Wednesday.

"What I learned is the cost for a billboard, a cost for a small batch of signs — it's not insignificant, it does add up. But what we also showed is with a strong team and a strong strategy, I think we showed word of mouth can go a long way." 

The 38-year-old Bachynski had no political experience before deciding to run for mayor. 

Against a field of 10 other candidates — including incumbent Sandra Masters and sitting councillor Lori Bresciani — Bachynski spent far less than the other major candidates while earning 31.5 per cent of the vote in November's election.

Bresciani's second-place campaign spent $24,000 and earned earned 24.9 per cent of the vote.

Masters's campaign spent $62,000 and ended up placing third, earning 23.1 per cent of the vote. 

Bill Pratt, who placed fourth, spent $43,000 and earned 12.1 per cent of the vote.

Bachynski said neither his win nor the stark contrast in the campaigns' expenses are not surprising.

"I was just taking advantage of every opportunity to try and get in front of people," Bachynski said. 

Crowded field, big dollars

Thomas Day, Bachynski's campaign manager and now chief of staff, said he didn't have any political experience when Bachynski approached him to run the campaign. 

"The mayor and I worked together at SaskEnergy," he said. "Truth be told, I told him 'Hey, I've never had campaign experience before,' and he kind of joked and said, 'Well, I've never run for mayor before. So let's learn this together."

Bachynski said he believes their inexperience was an advantage. 

Day said they didn't approach this campaign with a dollar figure in mind. 

"One of our guiding principles was to be cost effective because, at the end of the day not knowing how the process worked, we weren't sure if we were going to be able to raise $100 or $10,000," Day said.

The limit for how much candidates could spend in the municipal election was $73,859 for mayoral candidates and $12,236 for council candidates.

An analysis of financial disclosure records shows Bachynski's campaign was outspent in nearly every category, only spending more than the three other major candidates in bank charges and fundraising charges.

Masters's campaign spent $19,000 on advertising — with billboard advertisements along the Ring Road and other areas of the city — while Pratt spent $13,000 on the same category. Bachynski spent $299. Those figures don't include lawn signs.

Bresciani spent $5,700 on advertising. Her largest expense was nearly $12,000 on signs.

Masters spent nearly $25,000 on signs, while Pratt spent $2,700.

Pratt's largest expense was nearly $13,000 to rent a space on Hamilton Street downtown for his campaign headquarters.

Day said the Bachynski campaign was focused on a week-by-week approach.

"This week we need to get flyers for when we start door knocking, and hey, now we've earned enough money that we can buy some lawn signs," Day said.

Day said he was never surprised by the response from the public. Instead, every new tool at their disposal was an "encouraging" sign, he said.

Campaign disclosure

According to the City of Regina report, only two of the 63 candidates in the municipal election — Chidi Igwe in Ward 1 and Talha Khan in Ward 2 — failed to file their expenses by the deadline.

As a result, those two could face fines of up to $10,000 if they are prosecuted and convicted. They will also not receive a $100 deposit back.

Clerk Jim Nicol said prosecution is a last resort.

Nicol said a more detailed report on the lessons learned from the 2024 election campaign will go to council later this year.