Mayor outspent Bolton, Davidson

NASHUA – Mayor Bernie Streeter spent nearly $17.64 for every vote he earned on Election Day.

Streeter won a second four-year term in last month’s election, beating Alderman-at-Large Steve Bolton and write-in candidate Don Davidson.

The final campaign finance reports for the November election were due Thursday at the city clerk’s office.

As expected, Streeter took in more money than his opponents in his successful bid to reclaim the corner office. But the race also left him with a small debt to clear up.

Including the primary and the general election, Streeter reported spending a total of $104,438. He received 5,921 votes in the general election.

Streeter raised $103,849 during the race, leaving his campaign with a deficit of $589.

“I’ll probably make it up myself. I don’t anticipate any fund-raiser,” Streeter said.

It was a slightly more costly race for the mayor the second time around. Four years ago, Streeter spent close to $103,000 to win the seat for the first time.

Bolton, who finished second, raised $59,221 for his campaign, and spent $57,928, leaving him with a surplus of $1,293 – the only one of the three candidates with money left over at the end of the campaign. Davidson’s write-in campaign came close to Bolton’s totals, raising $55,534 and spending $55,704, for a deficit of $170.

Most of the contributions to Streeter’s campaign in the final week of the mayoral race were from out of the city, as far away as Arlington, Va. His biggest contribution in the final week was $1,000 from the campaign committee of U.S. Sen. John Sununu.

Expenses during the final days of the campaign revealed some differences among the candidates.

Bolton paid the New Hampshire Democratic Party some $5,700 on Nov. 1, days after a fund-raiser for his campaign that brought leading state Democrats to the city.

Meanwhile, advertising took the largest piece of the other candidates’ campaign budgets, with Streeter paying $10,387 to Spectrum Monthly, a direct mail provider.