"I regret spending the money and not winning, but I enjoyed the competition and it was something I was determined to do," he said.
"It's certainly a lot of money," he said. "As far as next time goes, I'd only do it if I got some major financial backing."
The first-time local body candidate lost by around 4000 votes to Mr Yule, however he did not come away empty handed.
"I certainly learned a lot. I learned a lot from the experience, and about Hastings District," he said.
Fellow candidate Adrienne Pierce spent $12,409, and declared no donations.
Unlike his opponents, the majority of the $25,653 re-elected Lawrence Yule spent to retain his seat was funded through donations. He declared 14 donations totalling $21,795 - all of which were anonymous except one from Hawke's Bay District Health Board chairman Kevin Atkinson.
In 2013, less than a third of his $15,405 campaign was funded through donations.
Mr Yule said people who wanted him to stand again had helped fund his campaign, adding "there was no real reason other than people wanted to support me".
At the other end of the scale, Bill Dalton did not spend a cent to retain the role of Napier's mayor - a perk of running unopposed.
"I spent absolutely nothing because I didn't have to," he said.
By comparison, winning the seat in 2013 cost Mr Dalton $16,826 - which he said reflected the difference between standing against five other candidates, and being able to develop name recognition over the past three years.
In Central Hawke's Bay, expenditure mirrored results for the vacant mayoralty.
Successful contender Alex Walker spent almost $8000 for her bid - just over $1000 more than Sally Butler's campaign of $6764. Gerard Pain - who came third in the race - spent a total of $2734. None of the Central Hawke's Bay candidates declared donations.
Of all successful candidates who faced contest for the mayoralty, re-elected Wairoa mayor Craig Little spent the least, with his campaign costing $4027.
Benita Cairns spent $1581 while Roland Matley's bid cost him $1142.
Tararua Mayor Tracey Collis came the closest of any mayoral candidate to reaching her district's expenditure limit of $14,000 - candidates expenses are capped depending on the population of the area they are standing in.
Her campaign cost $13,404, around $9000 more than the nearest candidate.
Mrs Collis said she did not regret the expense, adding "no matter what the result was, if I had put my best foot forward I would have been happy".
Tararua was a "really big district to cover", she said, with a "big chunk" of her expenditure going toward advertising over the entire election period - from hoardings, to radio advertisements when she felt she was not reaching enough voters.
None of the five Tararua mayoral contenders declared donations.