Not only was the race between U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards and Rep.-elect Bill Flores the most expensive in the history of Congressional District 17, it was among the most pricey House contests nationwide.

Edwards and Flores spent a combined $7 million, according to the candidates’ latest financial reports released last week. Flores — a Bryan Republican and the victor in the race — raised $1.9 million, loaned his campaign almost $1.3 million and spent $3.2 million.

Edwards, the 10-term Waco Democrat, raised $3.7 million while spending $3.8 million. Outside groups spent an additional $1.6 million on the race, mostly on attack ads.

Bill Flores (left) and Chet Edwards (right) waged an expensive political war this year.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group that tracks campaign spending, the Edwards-Flores race was the ninth-most expensive race in the country, in terms of both money raised and spent as of mid-October.

But money flowed fast in the last weeks of the local contest, pushing it past three other top 10 races to sixth, according to a Tribune-Herald analysis.

“Before any of this started, I told someone I thought it’d be several million dollars, but $7 million blows me away,” said Ashley Cruseturner, a history instructor at McLennan Community College.

Among the five more-expensive races, one of those was the western Ohio district represented by Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner, who didn’t face a serious opponent and gave big portions of his campaign haul to fellow Republican candidates.

The Center for Responsive Politics’ list featured several high-profile conservatives, including Michele Bachmann in Minnesota, who capitalized on national name recognition among GOP activists to raise an impressive sum.

Bachmann’s House race was the most expensive in the country, with the congresswoman raising more than $13 million and spending more than $11 million.

Unlike the other races, Cruseturner said the Edwards-Flores race “wasn’t on the lips of all Americans” and was never a focus of extensive cable news coverage or a topic for conservative TV and radio hosts — something that can drive up contributions.

For example, one of the pricier races featured Joe Wilson, the South Carolina Republican who shouted “You lie” at President Barack Obama during an address to Congress on health care reform.

Wilson’s opponent capitalized on the backlash to the outburst, quickly raising more than $1 million from donors across the country. And Wilson raised his own $1 million, as websites, including the Drudge Report, told conservatives Wilson was “under attack” for taking on the president and encouraged them to donate to the Republican.

Though the Edwards-Flores race contained no similar moment that put the race in the national consciousness, Cruseturner noted it was Texas’ biggest House race, and “certainly people in the know were talking about it.”

The Congressional District 17 race also stands out among the contests because both campaigns treated the race as close until the last day, even though Flores ended up winning by 25 percentage points.

“There was a sense that you had to pour it on in the end, I think on both sides,” Cruseturner said.

Both candidates proved to be resourceful fundraisers.

Flores, who worked in the energy industry before retiring and running for Congress, tapped the oil and gas industry for donations. He received more money from that sector than any other to his campaign in terms of contributions, according to a Center for Responsive Politics database tracking contributions by industry.

Edwards, a high-ranking member of the powerful Appropriations Committee, drew donations from professionals and political action committees in the legal, medical and energy fields.

While Edwards raised more money, Flores closed the gap by loaning his campaign $1.27 million. Flores’ campaign also benefited from a bigger share of the spending by outside groups.

The race also stands out from most of the other big-dollar House races nationwide because in many of the other expensive races, one candidate was far in front financially, as with Boehner in Ohio.

“It looks like the most competitive race in terms of money, but the least competitive race in terms of the margin,” Cruseturner said.

Since the election, Flores and other victorious Republicans have worked to retire campaign debt.

The task has meant the anti-Washington candidate and a handful of other GOP freshmen have taken part in a time-tested Washington ritual: the Capitol Hill fundraiser.

The Sunlight Foundation, a group that advocates for transparency in government, posted an invitation for a $1,000-a-head “debt retirement reception” for Flores on Nov. 17 at a GOP social club near the capitol. The fundraiser was hosted by North Texas Reps. Pete Sessions and Jeb Hensarling.

So far, Flores has raised more than $39,000 since the election, as more than 20 political action committees have contributed to Flores since the campaign wrapped up.

Flores received post-election contributions from the PACs for the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors and several Republican colleagues.

He also got donations from several PACs that were Edwards donors during the campaign cycle, including Exxon Mobil; Deloitte; the American Bankers Association; Houston law firm Fulbright & Jaworski; and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co.

He also took a big chunk out of his debt by forgiving $630,000 in personal loans owed by his campaign.

mshapiro@wacotrib.com

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