UPDATED 12/21/10 11:20 a.m.

Contributions from labor unions have given Mel Kahele a financial edge over his competition in the special election to replace former Chair Todd Apo on the Honolulu City Council, campaign spending reports show.

Less than half of the 14 special election candidates filed campaign spending reports by the midnight deadline Dec. 20.

Kahele is running to represent District 1, the bulk of southwest Oahu. The position opened when Apo resigned from the council Nov. 8 to take a job with the Disney Aulani resort at Ko Olina.

Of the six candidates who filed, Kahele has the financial edge.

His spending report showed that he received more than $19,000 in contributions by Dec. 14, almost all of which came from organized labor.

Kahele received: $4,000 from Ironworkers for a Better Government; $2,000 from Painters Local 1791 PAC; $4,000 from Local Union 1186 PAC; $300 from International Insulators Local 132; $2,000 from Local Union 293 State Legislative Fund; $500 from International Brotherhood of Electric Workers 1357 Political Action Committee; and $2,000 from the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 142 PAC.

By the end of the filing period, Kahele had a surplus of $6,375. He spent more than $6,000 on mailing brochures and more than $1,600 for a KNDI radio ad.

Kahele’s opposition, Tom Berg and Jason Espero both reported deficits of $20,936 and $8,829, respectively.

Espero took in $18,875 in campaign contributions, but $10,000 of that came in the form of a loan from family member, Pauline Espero. He spent more than $13,000 to print and mail brochures.

Berg received $4,390 in contributions, mostly from donors willing to give more than $100. Berg spent $1,047 on a Clear Channel radio ad and was more than $7,500 in debt before the election began.

Hawaii developer Jeff Stone, whose company is overseeing the development of the Ko Olina resort area, donated $1,000 to Kahele, Berg and Espero.

Chris Lewis earned the least among the four reporting candidates. He received $1,100 in contributions and ended the filing period with a $255 surplus. He spent $443 on banners and $200 on cards.

UPDATE

Kioni Dudley brought in contributions of $7,466 and loaned himself $5,621. He spent all of his contribution money on various election supplies that included $300 for his campaign manager, Joe Lewis. By the end of the Dec. 14 filing period, he had a $78,084 deficit from outstanding loans.

Rose Martinez fared better. She took in $8,585 in campaign contributions and spent $6,646. Martinez had a $1,939 surplus at the end of the filing period. She paid Chad Tsuneyoshi $3,000 for t-shirts, banners and signs. In turn, Tsuneyoshi contributed $3,000 to Martinez’ campaign.

Four candidates – Matthew LoPresti, John Roco, Gary Velleses and Victoria Yuen – are exempt from filing a finance report because they have stated they will not spend more than $1,000 on their campaigns.

Those candidates who have yet to file — James Manaku, Bob McDermott and Patty Teruya — will receive daily fines for each day that passes without filing their report with the spending commission.

They will pay $50 each day for the first seven days they go without filing. After the seventh day, the fine increases to $200 a day but the penalty cannot exceed 25 percent of the candidate’s total contributions.

The election will be held Dec. 29. the position pays $52,446 a year.