During the Nov. 8 mayoral race, incumbent Jeff Graham kvetched privately about how his opponent, Councilman Jeff Smith, was going to annihilate him in the fundraising game.

Turns out those concerns were unfounded.

Mr. Graham outspent Mr. Smith by about 30 bucks in his victorious bid for an unprecedented fifth term.

He spent $10,853.84, to Mr. Smith's $10,825.34, according to my tally.

Mr. Graham was worried about a "TV onslaught," which, as he notes, never came. TV is just not a very cost-efficient way to get to the voters of Watertown. The most local TV station is Channel 7, which covers much, much more than just Watertown.

Mr. Graham also dryly notes on his blog that "My opponent did spend ten times what I did at the WDT, for whatever that means." That prompted a few (anonymous) blog commenters to take some (unfounded) shots at the Watertown Daily Times, which endorsed Mr. Smith.

In every mayoral campaign since 1991, the Times endorsed Mr. Graham, until 2011. Mr. Graham has not always been happy with the Times' coverage, whether on the opinion page or the straight-up stuff. But to his credit, he always returns our calls.

Mr. Graham won the election, 52 percent to 48 percent. It was his closest race. He lost in 1999.

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