The top three spenders in the 2014 school board elections also wrangled the most votes from the Prince George public in October, according to election expense reports.
Third term Trish Bella rang in the highest bill at $2,717, more than $1,000 than the next closest competitor, Brenda Hooker, who spent $1,511.
Bella got the nod from 7,338 voters to sit as one of the School District 57 trustees while Hooker, now in her second term, got 6,658 votes.
Former chairperson Sharel Warrington came in third in expenses and votes, spending $1292 for 6,350 ballots.
Second-time trustee Tim Bennett spent the least with $501 for a fourth place finish in the ballots - meaning all returning trustees tallied top votes. According to Bennett's breakdown, he spent a cool eight cents on each of the 5,852 votes compared to Bella's 37 cents a vote.
Current chairperson Tony Cable came next lowest in campaign costs, with $643 in campaign expenses but defied the spending means votes connection, with the first-timer's fifth place finish just nine votes behind Bennett.
Newcomers Bruce Wiebe and Bob Harris spent $1,097 and $923, respectively, for 5,685 and 5,492 votes. (Harris beat out former trustee Betty Bekkering by 477 ticks of the ballot)
In total trustees spent $8,688, which is comparable - on the low side - to individual campaign costs of councillors. In the 2011 election (2014 numbers aren't available yet), only the bottom three spenders were in that range, with Brian Skakun's $7,166 and Lyn Hall's $8,514. Garth Frizzell was the surprise spender, with only $2,321 for the eighth, and last, council seat.
Trustees were required to file their expenses and contributors to Elections BC last week.
Four trustees funded their campaigns entirely from their pockets: Sharel Warrington, Bruce Wiebe, Tony Cable and Tim Bennett. Bob Harris said the majority was his money, with some donations from retired friends interested in education.
Trish Bella funded 87 per cent of her campaign, but took $350 in donations, including $150 from trade unions. Brenda Hooker took 70 per cent from her own bank account, and $450 from outsiders, of which $275 was from trade unions.
The biggest campaign costs were for signs and newspapers ads. Bella spent $1,036, Wiebe $602, Harris $527 and Cable $471 to get their names on the city's streets.
Three trustees opted for buttons and most printed brochures or flyers to get the word out.
Bennett's strategy was to play an online game: more than 70 per cent of his spending was on Facebook ads and his website.
View the interactive graph below for a full breakdown of trustee campaign costs and expenses.
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