A new PAC has spent more than $125,000 in the last week. It's already the most expensive race in over a decade.

SPOKANE, Wash. — The total amount of money spent on the Spokane mayor's race is now approaching $1 million.

As of Oct. 16, money donated to or spent independently for or against Ben Stuckart and Nadine Woodward totals up to $948,311.96.

Previously, Woodward held a significant financial advantage thanks to independent expenditures, an unlimited form of support where people or organizations can buy ads or other resources with or without a candidate's approval.

But in just the past month, a new political action committee has started narrowing that gap.

Citizens for Liberty and Labor has reported $171,730.00 in independent expenditures that are anti-Woodward.

Almost all of that has come in the form of TV ads; the vast majority has been spent in just the past week.

Although it's catching up to the Woodward numbers, it's still a fair ways behind her $234,525.76 in independent support. However, that money has been far more spread out over the course of the year.

Most of that support has come in the form of digital ads and print mailers.

So where is all that money coming from?

The anti-Woodward PAC, Citizens for Liberty and Labor, gets the vast majority of its funding from local unions, particularly firefighters.

Besides labor, it has a $10,000 contribution from the Spokane Tribe of Indians.

The primary pro-Woodward group is the Washington Realtors PAC. Its top contributor is the National Association of Realtors, based in Chicago. State and local Realtors Associations have also given significant, though far smaller, amounts.

Woodward also gets support from the Spokane Good Government Alliance, a PAC which gets its money primarily from contributors associated with the Wolff Company and Pearson Packaging.

And that's just the independent expenditures.

Ordinary donations are through the roof as well. Ben Stuckart has raised $280,998.45 and Woodward has raised $259,627.33 so far this year.

That all adds up to nearly $1 million spent on the top two candidates in this year's mayoral race, which has just under three weeks still left to go.

For comparison, $430,994.21 was spent on the 2015 contest between David Condon and Shar Lichty, less than half of what's already been spent in 2019.

At the start of the decade, $474,840.67 was spent in 2011 when Condon defeated Mary Verner.

Going even further back, $398,965.18 was spent in 2007 when Verner defeated Dennis Hession.