Honolulu Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi spent $88,474.79 in her successful bid to return to City Hall this summer.

That means for the second time this year, the candidate spending the most money did not finish in the top two in a City Council special election race.

In the 5th Council District race that ended Aug. 7, Kobayashi raised $106,891.12, including $17,400 from herself, according to a report filed with the state Campaign Spending Commission last week. Kobayashi spent $11.59 for each of the 7,632 votes she received.

The 5th Council District, which encompasses an area that includes Palolo, Manoa, Makiki and Kapahulu, was vacated when Councilman Duke Bainum died suddenly June 9.

The biggest spender in the 14-person race was third-place finisher Nathaniel Kinney, a political newcomer and legal counsel for the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, District Council 50.

Kinney spent $118,322.67, or $31.05 for each of the 3,811 votes he received. The campaign collected $138,556.12, including $8,000 in contributions and $30,000 in loans from his parents. The campaign reported the loans outstanding. The Kinney campaign also received a healthy dose of contributions from the political action committees of a number of trade unions.

Former state Sen. Matt Matsunaga, the second-place finisher, reported spending $83,257.27, or $13.29 for each of the 6,264 votes he received. Matsunaga collected $87,815, which included a $48,000 loan to himself that remained outstanding at the end of the campaign.

All three top finishers spent heavily on television, radio and print advertising.

Kobayashi, who previously served on the council, has already been sworn in privately and begun office hours and attending committee meetings at Honolulu Hale. A formal swearing-in takes place Wednesday. The term runs through 2012.

A special election was held earlier this year to fill the term left by the death of Councilwoman Barbara Marshall in the spring. Councilman Ikaika Anderson won that election, spending $113,791, or about $9.04 for each of the 12,582 votes he received.

The biggest spender among 11 candidates in that race was former Councilman John Henry Felix, the fifth-place finisher, who spent $187,349 for 1,825 votes, or $102.71 per vote. Second-place finisher and former Councilman Steve Holmes spent $46,437, or $12.86 for each of the 3,612 votes he received.