Porter has given $3,250 of his own money to his campaign. His father has donated $1,000 and other relatives have contributed $850. That's $5,100, well over half of what he has raised.

Turley's largest donations have come from friend and Omniture founder John Pestana ($5,000), his parents ($5,000) and his brother ($2,500), but he also has collected more than $2,000 from Utah Valley Realtors.

Porter did suggest the City Council should discuss campaign financing, but he also said the spending is good for the local economy.

Dayton expected late spending by Sumsion, which she speculated would result in more mailers and maybe even automated phone calls. "I won't be able to have a good rebuttal," she said, "but it's no surprise to me."

Porter and Dayton said they expect close races and believe they can win.

The most active contributor to the four Provo Council races is EsNet, a Provo company that invests in information technology companies. EsNet gave $500 to six of the eight candidates, including both sides in two races — Turley and Porter in the city-wide race and Sumsion and Dayton in District 1. The company also donated to Johnson and incumbent Barbara Sandstrom in District 4.

EsNet managing general partner Dan Campbell serves on the Provo City Power Board, the Provo Business Development Corporation Board and the Provo City Telecommunications Board.

Developer David Gardner contributed money to Porter, Dayton, Sandstrom and both sides in District 3 — Johnson and McCoard. Gardner is shepherding multiple developments through the city approvals processes.

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E-mail: twalch@desnews.com