Provo mayor-elect Curtis spent all but $18 in campaign coffers

Provo mayoral victor John Curtis raised $82,990 and spent $82,972 in his election effort, leaving him only $18 remaining in the coffers. His spending more than doubled that of competitor Steve Clark, who spent only $39,210 after raising $42,406.

Curtis said during the last election, incumbent mayor Lewis Billings spent nearly $90,000 in order to keep his seat.

"I came into a situation where I was totally unknown to the voters of Provo," Curtis said. I had a lot of catchup to do. And we also had a very active campaign."

Curtis said they held frequent meetings in the parks, and just to send out a city-wide flyer about those meetings cost several thousand dollars, he said.

"If I look back on my expenses, I feel like we ran a very lean campaign," he said. "All the money was spent very wisely and carefully."

The spending discrepancy was much more marked than the voting. Curtis won the mayor's seat with 5,321 votes to Clark's 4,744.