Sudbury

Sudbury Mayor Brian Bigger win cost $54K, half as much as Melanson

Brian Bigger won the Sudbury mayor's race in 2014 by spending $54,929, half as much as the second place finisher Dan Melanson.

Sudbury Mayor Brian Bigger won the hotly contested mayors race last fall by spending half as much as his nearest competitor.

The bill for the former auditor general's big win came in at $54,829, with $39,930 of that money coming from donations made by individuals, as well as corporations.

Dan Melanson came second in the mayors race, but was first in spending.

His campaign cost $105,769 half of which was his own money, with $46,650 coming in from fundraising.

But he is still short of the Sudbury record of $111,000 spent on the Marianne Matichuk mayoral campaign in 2010, which Melanson played a major role in.

If you look at it per vote, Bigger spent $2 for every ballot cast for him, while Melanson put up $9 per vote.

The big difference was in advertising, with the Melanson campaign buying $70,931 worth of spots, compared with Bigger's advertising budget of $13,506.

Bigger also spent $9,500 on signs, while Melanson spent $14,052

We won't know how much former Mayor John Rodriguez spent on his third place finish for a few months, as he has a court-ordered extension.

Brian Bigger spent $54,829 on his successful bid to be mayor of Greater Sudbury, about half as much as the second place finisher Dan Melanson. (Yvon Theriault/CBC)

Long-time municipal politician Ron Dupuis didn't file his financial reports for the mayors race and is banned from running in 2018.

It's the same case for Richard Majkot, a political newcomer who finished a distance sixth for mayor, but ran a very active campaign complete with lots of signs, brochures and TV advertising.

Another political rookie, Jeff Huska, spent $19,326 on his mayoral campaign.