PORTLAND – Wellington “Wells” Lyons has raised more money for his City Council campaign than the five other candidates combined, according to reports filed Friday.

Lyons, who is running against incumbent Nicholas Mavodones Jr, for an at-large seat, has raised $14,181 since the start of his campaign.

Mavodones ($625), Distrct 1 incumbent Kevin Donoghue ($1,175) and District 2 incumbent David Marshall ($3,214) have raised a total of $5,014 for their re-election campaigns.

Two candidates – District 1 challenger Justin Benjamin Pollard and District 2 challenger Shane Boyington – missed Friday’s filing deadline for the campaign finance reports, which cover donations through Oct. 23, but said they filed them Monday afternoon.

Pollard has loaned his campaign $50; Boyington said he doesn’t plan to spend any money.

The reports provide the first comprehensive look at fundraising for the Nov. 6 election. The next deadline for finance reports is Dec. 18, but candidates and action committees that spend or receive more than $1,000 at once before the election must file reports within 24 hours of doing so.

Although he has spent more than $10,700, Lyons holds a big cash advantage over Mavodones, a five-term councilor who has raised only $625.

“That’s a huge amount for a council race,” Mavodones said of his opponent’s fundraising.

Lyons said his campaign set a fundraising goal of $20,000 to $30,000, knowing he’s going against an incumbent with name recognition.

“People are investing in this campaign because they believe in our message of new energy and new ideas for Portland,” Lyons said in an email Monday. “It takes resources to build a grassroots movement, and over one hundred and twenty people have contributed.”

Lyons’s figures include a $3,900 loan he made to his campaign. He also has received $1,500 in in-kind donations. Lyons said he has more than 100 volunteers signed up on his website.

Lyons is the only candidate who has a campaign manager. Marc Rehmann, a former journalist who worked with Lyons at a nonprofit law firm in Chicago, has been leading the campaign – for $1,000 a month – since the summer.

The campaign is also taking a different tack for advertising. In addition to newspaper ads, Lyons has invested in small bursts of ads – ranging in cost from $25 to $53 – on Facebook, totaling $1,154.

Last year, in his campaign to become Portland’s first popularly elected mayor since the 1920s, Mavodones raised nearly $46,000 from roughly 300 donors by the reporting deadline 11 days before the election.

He finished third in the 15-way race, getting 15 percent of the first-place votes in the election’s “ranked-choice” voting system.

Mavodones, whose campaign does not have a website, said Monday that he hasn’t asked anyone for contributions this year because his supporters gave so much for his mayoral run.

“I have no doubt, had I gone out and tried to raise money, I could have raised a significant amount again, but I just didn’t feel it was necessary for a local, municipal election,” he said.

This year, Mavodones has received donations of $350 from former City Councilor and Mayor George Campbell, $100 from attorney and former Councilor James Cohen, and $100 from developer Nathan Szanton. He has raised $75 through donations of $50 or less.

Lyons has received contributions from more than 100 donors, including 36 donations of $100 or more. He has received donations from out-of-state, including California, Washington, Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee, New York, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C.

Michael Lyons of Cumberland gave the maximum $750, both personally and on behalf of his business, Tower Publishing. So did William Creighton, a self-employed activist from Freeport.

Robert Monks, a minority owner of MaineToday Media, which publishes the Portland Press Herald, contributed $100.

Donoghue, who is finishing his second term, has raised and spent $1,175. His major donors include City Councilor John Anton ($350), analyst Renee Schwalberg ($350) and teacher Markos Miller ($250).

His opponent in District 1, Pollard, who had not filed his campaign finance report as of Monday morning, sent a copy of his report to the Press Herald. It shows that he loaned his campaign $50.

Pollard said he has not been raising money but hopes people will contribute through his website.

“Beyond the fact that I do not personally feel very comfortable asking people for money, another reason that I have not been actively fundraising is that I wish that there were less money in politics,” he said.

Marshall, who is finishing his second term, has raised $3,214 and still has $2,235 for the final run to Election Day. His primary donors include Alfred Padula ($500), Anton ($350), Ashley Salisbury, director of Wellness at Akari, ($250) and architect Paul Stevens ($200).

Boyington said Monday afternoon that he simply forgot to file his report.

“I have not and do not plan on spending any money in my race for city council,” he said in an email. “I don’t think elections should be expensive. Everyone should have access to City Hall.”

Staff Writer Randy Billings can be contacted at 791-6346 or at:

rbillings@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @randybillings 

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