The latest campaign finance reports came out this week, meaning that we can now see which local pols spent the most money on losing June’s primary. The answer, it turns out, lies east of the Anacostia River. 

In Ward 8, incumbent LaRuby May spent $220,779.17 on her race and received 3,584 votes, for a steep cost-per-vote of $61.60. With more limited resources but better success, challenger Trayon White, on the other hand, spent just $10.59 per vote. 

When it comes to pricey losing re-election bids, May isn’t alone on Muriel Bowser‘s Green Team. In Ward 7, incumbent Yvette Alexander spent $177,081.22 losing to former mayor Vince Gray, for a cost-per-vote of $50.86 compared to Gray’s $27.64.

In Ward 4, meanwhile, Brandon Todd challenger Leon Andrews lost with a comparatively cheap $27.71 per vote and $186,716.97 spent—albeit much of it from his personal funds. 

LL can’t judge how much at-large hopeful David Garber and outgoing At-Large Councilmember Vincent Orange spent in their losing bids to Robert White, since Orange’s report still isn’t available after Wednesday’s Office of Campaign Finance deadline. 

While May and Alexander blew a lot of money on their races, they still got off relatively easy, in part because their races were at the ward level. In 2014, mayoral hopeful Reta Jo Lewis spent nearly $300,000  but couldn’t crack 400 votes, for an ultimate cost-per-vote of $840.74.