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GREENSBORO — Cha-ching.

Two candidates for the City Council — one at-large and one in District 3 — are way, way, way ahead of their competitors in the fundraising department.

Councilwoman Sandra Anderson Groat, seeking to regain her at-large seat, has collected nearly $30,000. The mayor pro tem loaned her campaign about $20,000, which she hopes to repay through donations.

District 3 candidate Zack Matheny has topped even that, raising more than $31,000.

That's $61,000 for two candidates — enough money for the city to hire a seasoned police officer or maybe a couple of rookies.

No news flash here: Money is key to winning campaigns. It affords the candidate the chance to advertise. Greater exposure equals greater name recognition.

The primary is Oct. 9, one month from today. Six at-large candidates will move on, as will two candidates in each of the three district races on the ballot.

Election Day is Nov. 6.

Those who don't face primaries — the two mayoral hopefuls and District 2 and 4 candidates — are required to file their reports by Oct. 2.

Candidates who don't plan to raise more than $3,000 during their campaign aren't required to file, according to Brenda Wallace with the Guilford County Board of Elections.

Groat, 62, said her expenses were high because she's gotten married since her last election and can't use leftover signs that say "Vote for Sandra Anderson."

She also spent almost $13,000 on several billboards scattered across town, including one on Battleground and Hill and another off Elm-Eugene Street near Interstate 40.

She used them in 2005 and said they have become "a little bit of a signature thing."

Groat has spent $15,000. That's more than five times more than her seven opponents who filed reports combined. (They've spent only $2,885.)

Candidates Joel Landau ($1,427) and Mary Rakestraw ($528) are a distant second and third.

In the race for the at-large seat, Marikay Abuzuaiter has the second-fattest campaign account, with $3,157 cash on hand.

Groat has $14,234 in her account.

Matheny, 34, raised his by collecting dozens of checks for $250, $500 and even $1,000.

His list of boosters reads like a Who's Who directory of Greensboro big shots: developers such as John Lomax and Arthur Samet. Businessmen such as Moses Cone Health System President Tim Rice and restaurateur Dennis Quaintance.

And attorneys galore.

Matheny said people are excited about his campaign. A lot of the money trickled in after he announced, he said. Some came from a fundraising event.

He calls the show of support "overwhelming."

"We've got an open seat," he said. "I want to get myself out there as much as possible."

Matheny has spent about $5,400. Most of that has gone toward printing, shipping and food for fundraisers.

Joe Wilson, one of Matheny's four opponents, is second in spending. He has paid for about $2,380 worth of signs and printing.

Wilson's campaign also repaid donors more than $3,220. Those candidates paid more than they were allowed, he said.

Wilson, who said he refuses to take money from political action committees, believes a candidate shouldn't need to raise $30,000 to win the seat.

"I think it's a sin to need $20,000 or $30,000 to run this race," he said.

Contact Margaret Moffett Banks at 373-7031 or mbanks@news-record.com