After record-breaking campaign finance totals in 2006, this year's races for Roanoke mayor and city council seem to be back to normal.

Last month, David Bowers defeated Democrat Nelson Harris and two independents for mayor, while Democrats Sherman Lea, Anita Price and Court Rosen swept a six-way race for three city council seats. The winners take their seats July 1.

According to campaign finance reports filed this week and covering through June 10, the 10 candidates in May's election raised nearly $168,000 and spent about $150,000 -- far short of the $393,403 raised just two years ago. That year, business interests heavily backed the "For the City" slate of David Trinkle, Alfred Dowe and Gwen Mason, who swept the election.

The Business Leadership Fund, a political action committee administered by the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce, alone pumped $65,000 into the race.

The Business Leadership Fund was a force again this year, but spent only $28,500. The bulk of that went to incumbent Harris, who received $12,000 from the PAC, and first-time council candidate Rosen, who received $11,500.

Former council candidate Granger Macfarlane also emerged as a top contributor, doling out more than $4,500 as an individual and nearly $7,300 through his business, Eastern Motor Inns. That money went to mayoral challenger Bowers and independent council candidates Valerie Garner and Brian Wishneff.

Harris, Rosen and Bowers were the top three fundraising candidates. Rosen topped all candidates by raising a little more than $41,000. That still fell far short of Trinkle's 2006 fundraising record of $68,918.

Harris raised about $35,000, while Bowers raised about $35,500.

Bowers loaned himself money to jump-start his campaign in February, posting distinctive yellow and white "Run David Run" billboards around the city. The gambit paid off with a 1,443-vote win over Harris.

Bowers still owes $19,000 for the loans.

Incumbent Councilmen Lea and Wishneff each raised more than $10,000.

Wishneff raised nearly $17,500 -- including almost $7,000 in the final two weeks before the election -- but spent only $6,200. He ended up with $11,000 unspent in a race where he lost to the third-place Rosen by only 114 votes.

State law allows candidates with unspent campaign funds to use them for future political races; to return them to donors; to contribute them to other candidates, political action committees or parties; or to donate them to IRS-approved charities. Candidates may not convert leftover campaign funds for personal use.

The most recent reports show no contributions or expenditures from Citizens for Sensible Decisions, a group that contributed $800 to candidates in this election but did not register with the Virginia State Board of Elections. Botetourt County prosecutor Joel Branscom was appointed last month to look into whether the group broke laws when it purchased last-minute, full-page ads attacking Rosen in two newspapers.

Wishneff, who has said he was involved with the ads, did not include it in the campaign expenditures listed in his report.

One possibility for the lagging fundraising totals from two years ago may be the absence of a dominating issue this year. Candidates debated development on Mill Mountain, construction of an amphitheater on Reserve Avenue and the state of city schools.

But while those topics stirred audiences at various campaign forums, none of them really compared with the furor over Victory Stadium that lasted more than a decade before reaching a crescendo in 2006. The Trinkle/Mason/Dowe ticket ran in favor of demolishing the stadium, while Democratic and Republican party tickets each ran on preservation platforms.

Campaign finance database on the Net: vpap.org