Do you have any idea how much money was spent to win the seats on Raleigh’s City Council? Do you have any idea where all that money came from? Do you know who is expecting a return on their investments?   The data is all available in the campaign finance reports filed with the Board of Elections. The eight winners of the City Council elections spent a combined total of just under $1 million on their campaigns. More than half of that, or $550k, was provided in the form of campaign contributions from the development community. But wait, there’s more! Two development organizations, the NC Association of Realtors and the Triangle Apartment Association, spent an additional $167,000 in the election in the form of direct mail and digital advertising for their preferred candidates. That’s a total of more than $715k to buy influence with City Council. The end result is that over 62%, nearly two thirds of the money needed to win city council elections, was provided by the development community. Do you think they did this out of the goodness of their hearts? Or, do you think they are lining up now to collect what they paid for?