Seven other candidates, as well as 1st District incumbent James J. Tayoun, who withdrew from the race several weeks ago, filed no reports.
"Without question this is a record," said Fred Voigt, executive secretary of the Committee of 70, a non-profit election watchdog group.
An exact total for pre-primary fund-raising for Council's previous election in 1987 was not available.
Leading the list this year was Happy Fernandez, a Democrat candidate for an at-large seat who reported raising $148,500 and spending $72,729.
Two incumbents, 6th District Democrat Joan Krajewski and 10th District Republican Brian O'Neill, also reported raising more than $100,000.
Since many campaigns likely will receive major infusions of cash in the campaign's final days, Voigt said he expected the final totals on contributions and spending would be far higher.
He said those records reflected "an expression of a desire for change" as well as a fragmentation of the city Democratic Committee.
More independent candidates have been able to attract money "separate and apart from the traditional party" sources of funds, Voigt said.
And that's largely because "many of the candidates have used change as their theme song and as part of their pitch for raising funds," Voigt added, noting "there's a heightened recognition of the important of Council."
But Gregory Harvey, a lawyer familiar with election law, isn't so sure that the record fund-raising says anything special about this year's race.
"My initial impression is that the process of politics has increasingly become a full-time activity involving many more professional fund-raisers, campaign managers and campaign staffs," Harvey said. "It's more an evolution than anything related to this campaign."
