All those pre-election commercials on television, leaflets in the mailbox and messages on the answering machine cost a lot of money.

How much? In Missouri’s 6th Congressional District, the outlays approached $5.4 million.

Republican Congressman Sam Graves, who won his fifth term in the U.S. House last month, got outspent in the race by Democratic challenger Kay Barnes.

Ms. Barnes, a St. Joseph native and former Kansas City mayor, spent more than $2.79 million, according to a Federal Election Commission financial disclosure report filed Thursday.

That compares to about $2.6 million disbursed by the Graves campaign during the two-year election cycle.

Lofty numbers reflect the competitive nature of a race that had a well-financed challenger to an incumbent targeted by Democrats at the national level.

Both President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney came to the Kansas City area to raise funds for Mr. Graves. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer showed up to help build Ms. Barnes’ treasury.

In the last weeks of the campaign, Mr. Graves raised and spent more money. For the reporting period beginning Oct. 16, the incumbent took in $240,406, compared to $215,237 by the Democrat. In disbursements for that time, the lawmaker paid out $430,573, while Ms. Barnes spent $231,735.

In the Kansas 2nd District congressional race, Republican winner Lynn Jenkins spent $1.6 million, while Democratic incumbent Nancy Boyda had disbursements of $1.48 million.

Ken Newton can be reached at kenn@npgco.com.