Salt Lake City Council District 3 hopeful Chris Wharton leads all comers in campaign financing through the end of October, spending and raising roughly one-third of the totals for all candidates, according to the latest campaign disclosures.
All told through Oct. 31, seven candidates for four council seats have raised nearly $139,000 and spent just under $102,000, with the most money changing hands predictably in the two races for open council seats.
Wharton, a lawyer who is running against developer Phil Carroll for the seat being vacated by Stan Penfold, has raised more than $46,000 and spent nearly $33,000, including $16,640 raised and $13,151 spent since early August.
Second to Wharton in both spending and fundraising is District 7 candidate Abe Smith, a technology strategist for the Mormon church, with just over $27,000 raised and $22,500 spent overall; he has raised $14,126 and spent $12,023 since early August.
Smith faces public defender Amy Fowler to succeed the outgoing Lisa Adams, who did not seek re-election. Fowler has raised just over $12,800 and spent $7,025 since August.
Candidates spent most on printing and mailing and campaign consultants and staffers. Top givers include real estate and development interests.
In the other district races:
District 1 • Incumbent James Rogers is unopposed. He has raised $2,200 and spent nothing on the race.
District 5 • Incumbent Erin Mendenhall raised $2,000 from August through October and spent nearly $2,900. Overall she has raised more than $13,400 and spent just over $8,600. Her challenger, community activist George Chapman, raised $2,750 since August and spent $1,400. Overall, he has raised $3,500 and spent $1,612.