Figures show his spend nearly matches the combined total of seven other Invercargill hopefuls.
"I had no social media presence prior to the campaign, and I knew that if I wanted to get the message across I would have to use, you know, more conventional media to do that," Campbell told Local Democracy Reporting.
He rejected donation offers and used his own money on the campaign.
"I never took it, because I didn’t need to. But I support anybody who does. Because any democracy, if you don’t allow people to accept donations, then only wealthy people would be able to stand."
The second-highest election spend belonged to councillor Alex Crackett, who totalled $7,189.59, while councillor Ian Pottinger came in at $6,400.
Councillor Ria Bond was the only mayoral candidate to declare a donation, noting $3000 had been gifted towards her $5,277.55 campaign.
Further down the list, Andrew Clark spent $2,181.84, Tom Morton $955, Stevey Chernishov $90.80, and Gordon McCrone not a cent.
At Southland District Council, campaign spending was more subdued.
Mayor Rob Scott’s main expense was car signage of $970 on way to a grand total of $2,644.50.
Gary Tong spent $513.50, while Wendy Baker tallied $98.41.
In Gore, mayor Ben Bell spent $6249.99 on his campaign while Nicky Davis forked out $4335.75.
Candidates are required to declare both donations from individuals and anonymous donations of more than $1,500.
An Invercargill City Council spokesperson said the rules for election returns were set out by the Local Electoral Act.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
