If money equals attention, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden did the most to woo Iowans in the last three months.

The two Democratic presidential contenders are the only ones to crest $400,000 in spending in the first-in-the-nation state in the recently closed third quarter, according to campaign finance reports released Tuesday. That Iowa money was spent on travel and lodging in the Hawkeye State, rental costs for field offices, audio and visual services for local events and printing by local companies.

The Iowa expenses do not include advertising made through national firms or Iowa staffers on payroll because campaigns do not all report the addresses to whom those payments are going in the same way.

Sanders edges out Biden with about $460,000 spent in the state from July to the end of September. Biden's campaign spent $409,000. The next biggest Iowa spender, Andrew Yang, reported spending $263,000. U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, who has recently renewed her focus on the first-in-the-nation caucus state, is the only other person seeking the Democratic nomination to crack $250,000 in Iowa spending this past fundraising quarter.

Since April of this year, Democratic presidential candidates have spent more than $4.2 million in Iowa, on everything from $42 on bottled water to $500 at a Holiday Inn in Davenport. Those dollars do not include the cash flowing into the state to pay the more than 650 campaign staff, or the indirect spending the campaigns bring to Iowa, such as staffers' spending on rent, food and gas.

Of the top-spending candidates in the last three months, Yang is playing catch-up. He spent only about $15,000 in the state in the second quarter of the year, from April through the end of June.

In the last six months, Sanders' campaign has spent $783,000 in Iowa and Biden's campaign spent $534,000. Harris is next in Iowa, spending $416,000. The current Iowa Poll leader, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, has spent $327,000 in the state over the last six months.

Which presidential candidates have earned Iowa's campaign donations?

While candidates come to Iowa to spend money, rather than gathering big donations, the number of donations from Iowans can be an indicator of potential voters' levels of support.

Sanders leads the field in the number of donations from Iowans, with more than 2,500 donations in the last three months disclosed from people with Iowa addresses. Campaigns are required to report detailed donor information, including home states, only for those who contributed $200 or more in the course of the campaign.

Sanders, who often touts the number of people who have donated to his campaign, won over far more donors in Iowa than any of his competitors in the most recent quarter:

South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg's campaign had 1,031 donations from Iowans.

Republican President Donald Trump's reelection campaign drew the third-most Iowa donations, at 666.

Warren reported 630.

Biden had 590.

But the donations from Iowa are just a drop among the donations the candidates have received so far for their campaigns. As of the most recent federal campaign finance disclosure, the Democratic candidates have raised more than $400 million. Of that, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis, only about $600,000, far less than 1%, came from Iowa.

Nick Coltrain is a politics and data reporter for the Register. Reach him at ncoltrain@registermedia.com or at 515-284-8361. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Subscribe today at DesMoinesRegister.com/Deal.

Who were the top Iowa spenders in past 3 months?

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders: $460,000

Former Vice President Joe Biden: $409,000

Entrepreneur Andrew Yang: $263,000