Eleven days before Salt Lake City voters winnow the mayoral pool to two, Jenny Wilson reports the most money raised among candidates during August, and has more cash to spend - some $30,000 - than the rest of the field.

Wilson, who has led in every poll thus far, has $120,864 in the bank, more than doubling her closest rival Dave Buhler, who shows $57,989.

That according to the latest round of campaign-finance disclosures - the last prior to the Sept. 11 primary - which put Ralph Becker ($88,317) and Keith Christensen ($88,520) neck-and-neck in money left.

A fifth candidate, J.P. Hughes, loaned himself $20,000 in August and has $30,217 left to spend. Four fringe candidates failed to raise any money.

Loaded with advertising line items, the reports reflect the late stage of the mayoral chase.

Christensen, who has corralled the most donations overall with $604,476, spent more than $110,000 on a single day for billboards and other advertising - more than $221,000 overall. In total, his ad expenses eclipsed $180,000 in August, yet the former city councilman who is endorsed by Mayor Rocky Anderson lags in fourth place with 8 percent, according to a recent Tribune poll.

Becker, the House minority leader who burned through nearly $108,000 and is polling in third place, spent the second most this month. Besides consultants' fees and some cable TV, much of it ($32,000) went to mailers.

Buhler ($77,294) and Wilson ($81,859), who are in a statistical dead heat, spent nearly the same amount over the final reporting period.

Buhler, a two-term city councilman, coughed up more than $57,000 to Salt Lake City-based Love Communications, and another $10,000 on a survey. And Wilson, who mustered $429,357 in all, spread her August money between consultants, advertising and a commercial shoot, along with $21,000 for "research."

The new disclosures reveal Becker ($321,739) has barely overtaken Buhler ($320,446) for third place in overall donations.

But the donors for the so-called big four are nothing if not diverse.

Wilson, a Salt Lake County councilwoman, raised $6,000 between carpenter and firefighter unions, along with another $7,500 from the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters. She banked $1,000 from her father, former Mayor Ted Wilson, and also saw cash from private donors and small businesses.

Buhler scored several thousand from developers and construction companies, along with $5,000 from Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller. He also netted $1,000 from the nuclear waste disposal company EnergySolutions.

Becker again curried the most grass-roots support, submitting a pile of private donations that registered $500 or less. The list is dotted with current and former state lawmakers along with some bucks from small business.

Christensen saw a steady blend of business and private money, including a $2,500 bump from state lawmaker Kevin Garn. He also received $2,500 from The Layton Companies and $3,000 from Living Scriptures in Ogden.

Much of the money has materialized in the form of television and radio commercials. And, with the Tribune poll showing 24 percent undecided, expect that to continue.

But with the primary moved this year from its usual October slot to Sept. 11 - not long after the long Labor Day weekend - candidates must gamble on when to court voters.

If past primaries are any lesson, expect a television blitz on the final weekend.

The top two voter-getters will square off in the general election, Nov. 6.

djensen@sltrib.com