Rick Gray's margin of victory in last month's election may have been relatively slim, but in fundraising Gray won by a landslide.

Gray, Lancaster city's mayor, received $85,258 in campaign contributions in his bid for re-election last month and spent $72,306.

Those totals far eclipsed the $21,038 in contributions received by Gray's opponent, former Mayor Charlie Smithgall.

Smithgall spent only $8,174 in his bid to regain the mayor's office after four years out of City Hall.

The numbers are contained in post-election campaign expense reports filed by the candidate's committees with the County Board of Elections late last week.

Gray, a Democrat, won the Nov. 3 election by 313 votes over Smithgall, a Republican. That margin of victory was 4.4 percent.

Neither candidate raised or spent much money during the spring primary season. Gray ran unopposed within his own party, and Smithgall was not listed on the primary ballot.

Smithgall was drafted to run for another term by supporters who wrote his name on the Republican party ballot. He received 153 write-in votes in May and announced in late June that he would run for re-election.

Smithgall's campaign remained low key and low dollar. He received only five contributions over the $250 threshold considered the top level in the campaign expense reports. Those came from doctors and business executives.

Most of Gray's money came from those top-level donors. More than $46,500 in contributions came from people who gave more than $250.

While there are business owners and executives among his list of donors, Gray had the support of one group in particular: artists.

Artists are not known for deep pockets, but they came out in force to support Gray, whose wife, Gail, is a professional artist.

Thirty-seven artists contributed artworks that were auctioned at a fundraising event for Gray. Those items were valued at $37,350. The Gray campaign returned the favor — at least in part — by paying an "artist fee" for nearly all of those artworks. Those fees were usually about 40 percent of the stated value of the artwork and totaled nearly $15,514.

Smithgall, who is renowned for his collection of Civil War era artillery, also received support from the National Rifle Association's Political Victory Fund. That contribution was $500.

Gray, who is a member of the NRA-opposed Mayors Against Illegal Guns, received a $300 contribution from the political action committee of CeaseFirePa, a statewide group that advocates gun-control measures.

Together, the $80,480 spent by both candidates is the lowest amount spent in a city mayor's race in at least a decade, newspaper records show.

In their 2005 match up, the candidates spent nearly $229,000 — a record for any Lancaster mayoral contest. Smithgall outspent Gray the last time around, $146,792 to $82,072, but ended up losing by 16 percentage points.

In previous elections, Smithgall and his 2001 Democratic opponent, Ed Ruoff, spent a combined $113,900. In 1997, Smithgall and opponent Jon Lyons spent a combined $185,000, according to newspaper records.

bharris@lnpnews.com