Teresa Lewis spent more than $22 per vote in the recent Mount Airy mayor’s race, based on the support she received in comparison with final campaign-finance figures released Friday.

A disclosure report wrapping up contributions and expenditures shows that $19,974 was spent on Lewis’ unsuccessful campaign. Given that she received 897 votes in the Nov. 3 election, according to earlier-reported totals, $22.26 was spent by the campaign on a per-vote basis.

Lewis said Sunday afternoon that she was comfortable with the sum devoted to the mayoral bid.

“It’s the amount that I planned to spend,” said Lewis, who after losing the mayor’s race to Commissioner Deborah Cochran in November was named to replace Cochran on the city council.

Angie Harrison of the Surry Board of Elections said Friday that she did not know if the nearly $20,000 spent by Lewis was a record for a municipal election in the county. “I wouldn’t even want to speculate on that,” Harrison said.

But Lewis said Sunday that candidates for county governmental offices have spent more. “I’ve talked with a couple of people that said they ran for county commissioner and spent over $100,000, and I didn’t see where that was that much out of line,” she said in comparison with the totals for her campaign.

Also, the $19,974 covered expenditures leading up to an October primary, in which she defeated Cochran and two other candidates, as well as the general election, Lewis pointed out.

“And it was important to me,” Lewis added of the reasons for allocating such a level of resources to gain the mayor’s position that came open last year after Jack Loftis opted not to run again.

Lewis also reiterated a previous point that the money she spent on posters, media advertising and other campaign needs was beneficial to the local economy. “At least that’s what those businesses said to me,” the former candidate added regarding amounts spent with Mount Airy suppliers.

The final campaign-finance document released Friday was one of a series of disclosure forms Lewis was required to file at various intervals of the campaign. She was the only one of the four mayoral candidates required to list contributions and expenditures, with the rest declaring under oath that they did not intend to exceed the $3,000 threshhold mandating such disclosures.

Lewis’ latest report covers transactions for the latter stages of the campaign beginning on Oct. 20. It shows more than $7,800 spent during the days leading to Nov. 3.

In addition to last-minute advertising among local media outlets, the campaign used $3,026 for advertising with WXII-TV in Winston-Salem, and spent $440 with Video Works of North Carolina in Mount Airy, the eight-page report shows.

Lewis and her husband contributed nearly $13,000 toward her mayoral bid, with other funds accumulated through individual donations.

In keeping with a campaign promise, Lewis donated about $160 left in her campaign to the Reeves Community Center Scholarship fund in mid-January, according to the report.

Lewis said Sunday she is happy about how the situation turned out with her being appointed to the city board of commissioners, although she was focused on winning the mayor’s job. Now, unlike the mayor who only votes in case of a tie, Lewis has a direct say in municipal issues.

“I think it really worked out for the very best,” she said.

Contact Tom Joyce at tjoyce@mtairynews.com or at 719-1924.