Seiling spent $60,306, according to expense records released Friday.

"I do believe it was worth it," Aissa said.

He put up $226,000 of his own money and took 25,611 votes, or 24 per cent of the ballots cast.

Seiling took 59 per cent, for a total of 63,844 votes and spent $6,835 of his own cash.

In the previous election, Seiling said he ran his campaign for about $25,000.

"The campaign was different and we were dealing with quite an aggressive campaign, so we had to do a bit more work this time with what we could afford to do," Seiling said.

The spending limit for regional chair candidates was $312,848.90. The limit is based on a calculation using the regional population.

Aissa's expenses included about $29,000 for robocalls, $89,000 for advertising and $53,000 for salaries, benefits and professional fees up until voting day.

He attributed his large budget to a short campaign - he filed less than two months before the election - and the fact he was competing against the region's longest-serving politician.

Seiling's largest expense was advertising, with spending of $40,247. Another $7,522 was spent on signs.

The race for Region of Waterloo chair was the one to watch this past election, with Aissa and Seiling battling for the region's top political job.

Many criticized Aissa for what he was spending and for directly challenging Seiling at debates and in the media. He was blasted by some politicians for using robocalls, not common here in municipal campaigns, though other politicians used them as well.

"We were laughing at it," Aissa said. "They don't like it, but it's OK for them to do it."

Seiling said Friday he knew he couldn't match Aissa's spending, but tried to get his message out by relying on volunteers.

"My whole campaign was based on volunteers," he said.

He said especially in the month leading up to Oct. 27 election day, lots of supporters helped with his campaign.

"It was pretty humbling for me quite frankly, just the number of people . It was one of the most gratifying elections that I've had," he said.

Seiling raised about $30,000 in donations from individuals and another $15,650 from businesses, with about 100 financial supporters in total.

He had to file a campaign extension in December because some of his donations weren't in on time.

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Aissa raised about $5,000 from 18 individuals and another $13,250 from 20 corporations and businesses.

Seiling said he hasn't thought about whether he will run again in the 2018 election, but Aissa suggested the local political scene hasn't heard the last of him.

"I can't sleep without thinking about it now," he said.

Regional chair candidate budgets:

Jay Aissa - $251,034.35

Oscar Cole-Arnal - $600

Moira-Sharon Magee - Not filed

Robert Milligan - $1,977.70

Paul Myles - $200

Ken Seiling - $60,306

John Wolf - $30

Note: Myles and Wolf recorded deficits less than $200