Democrat John F. Street and Republican Sam Katz reported Friday that donors, many from outside Philadelphia, had given them nearly $8 million since June - $4.2 million to Street and $3.6 million to Katz. It now becomes clear that spending in the election. including the spring primaries, will approach $25 million.

"It is the most expensive election in the country this year," said Hank Sheinkopf, a New York political consultant who worked for Democrat Marty Weinberg in the May Democratic primary.

By comparison, the average U.S. Senate race in America costs about $4 million.

"And that's for a full state," said Steve Weissman, an expert on campaign financing at Public Citizen, a nonpartisan group in Washington. "It sounds like Philadelphia is going to spend six times that much on a race in a single city."

The average U.S. House election costs $600,000.

"You're talking about more than 40 times that amount," Weissman said. "It is enormous."

Street, who resigned as City Council president in December to run for mayor, has reported raising $8 million since he started to collect money for the race in 1997. Katz has raised $6 million since late 1998.

Adding what four other Democrats in the primary spent - $5.3 million for Weinberg, $1.4 million for Happy Fernandez and $1.3 million each for Dwight Evans and John White Jr. - the total for the mayor's race now stands at more than $23 million.

A couple million more could roll by the Nov. 2 election.

Much of the money that Street and entrepreneur Katz have raised is poured into 30-second TV ads. Television has become the means by which most voters learn about the candidates and choose whom to support.

The two candidates had booked more than $2 million combined in TV ads for the closing two weeks, almost doubling what they bought in the previous two weeks.

The Philadelphia media market is the fourth most costly in the United States. Much of the candidates' spending goes to waste - only one in five viewers lives in Philadelphia.

Mayor Rendell, who is featured in a TV ad that Street will begin running this week, has helped pay for the advertising himself. Rendell, who cannot seek reelection, has given Street $40,000 since June from his campaign fund. That was on top of $121,500 he gave previously.

With the polls showing the race neck and neck, neither candidate can afford to back off an inch.

David L. Cohen, Rendell's campaign manager in 1991, said that the price of election "borders on the obscene."

But he said the fault lay with a system that allows unlimited donations, not with either candidate.

"They are both playing within the rules," said Cohen, who recently donated $5,000 to Street and whose law firm recently gave Street $60,000. "But the history of the world shows that countries that engage in unilateral disarmament end up getting taken over."

Neither the city nor the state limits the amount that individual donors, political action committees or partnerships (mostly law firms) can give. Thirty-eight states do impose limits; the federal government caps donations at $1,000 for individual contributors and $5,000 for political action committees per federal election.

In the mayor's race, Katz has received more than $800,000 from just six people who each gave him at least $100,000. Sidney Kimmel, head of the Jones New York apparel company, gave $200,000.

The '91 mayor's race, which set the previous spending record, cost about $11 million. The winner, Ed Rendell, raised $5.2 million.

In Philadelphia, the ability to compete depends on the ability to raise money. That was Katz's strength from the beginning.

No Republican has won the mayor's office in 52 years. Democrats outnumber Republicans in the city by a 4-1 ratio. No donor wants to give to a sure loser, and most Republican candidates for decades have struggled to keep pace with the Democrats.

Rendell in 1991 raised eight times the $622,000 that Republican Joseph M. Egan Jr. was able to raise. Egan, a respected former president of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp., was never able to get a campaign off the ground.

But Katz has the advantage of previous runs for mayor and governor in which he demonstrated he could raise millions - he raised more than $3 million for his 1994 gubernatorial bid. His ability to raise money gave his campaign the credibility that Egan's never had. When polls in September showed him closing in on Street, his ability to raise money was enhanced even more.

"The fact that each side is fully funded is something that has rarely happened before," said Frederick Voigt, executive director of the Committee of Seventy, the city's election watchdog. "Historically, there has been a major imbalance between the candidates."

Katz had hoped to raise $6 million from the start, said Bob Barnett, Katz's campaign director. Had Katz not been able to raise that, he might not be in such a close race today.

"Had we raised only $3 million we might be running against Marty Weinberg or John White," Barnett said, naming the two Democrats who were considered tougher opponents for Katz. They lost in the primary, partly thanks to Katz, whose huge war chest allowed him to spend $1.7 million on an uncontested GOP primary, much of it to air commercials attacking Weinberg and White.

In the latest campaign finance reporting period, from June 8 through Oct. 18, Katz for the first time received more money than Street from contributors who gave less than $250.

Most of the money also has come from outside Philadelphia. Though suburbanites can't vote in the mayor's race, many have jobs, companies and interests in cultural activities in the city.

Of money Street and Katz have received, only 46 percent has come from individual donors, partnerships or PACs in the city among those that listed addresses. Street has received 51 percent of his campaign money from contributors in Philadelphia; Katz has gotten just 41 percent from city donors.

Weinberg, who was most successful in raising money in the primary, endorsed Street in June. He and his key supporters have been able to help Street raise loads of cash.

"Several hundred thousand dollars can probably be credited to the Weinberg organization," said Ken Snyder, a spokesman for Street.

Street's two biggest individual donors since June were among Weinberg's top donors in the primary.

Arnold Katz, a King of Prussia insurance executive, gave Street $55,000. In the primary, he gave Weinberg $50,000. William Howell, a New York financier, gave $46,000 to Street. In the spring, he gave Weinberg $65,000.

Unity 2000, a political action committee associated with Democratic State Sen. Vincent Fumo, a former Weinberg backer, gave Street $50,000.

Obermayer, Rebmann, Maxwell & Hippel, the law firm of which Weinberg is chairman, gave $35,000.

The electrician's union local in Philadelphia, which battled for Weinberg, is also now lined up behind Street. The union's political action committee gave him $41,000.

Two Philadelphia-area men who are well known as Democratic donors nationally also gave heavily to Street.

Chestnut Hill investor Peter L. Buttenwieser, listed last year by Mother Jones magazine as the No. 2 political donor in America, gave Street $40,000. Israel Roizman, a Montgomery County developer, gave him $26,000.

Billboard executive Dominick A. Cipollini, who gave to four of the six major mayoral candidates in the spring, gave $41,500 to Street this go-around. In the spring, he donated $29,500. Cipollini also has given $20,000 to Katz this year.

Lavan Hawkins, owner of an Atlanta food company, gave $40,000 at the urging of Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, according to Snyder.

Andre and Diane Duggin, who gave Street $30,000 in the primary, have given him that much again. Dale E. Lintner, who gave $45,000 previously, has contributed an additional $35,000. John J. Donnelly, who donated $30,000 previously, added $30,000.

Ed Snider, chairman of the 76ers and Flyers, has given Street $50,000, including $25,000 since June. Pat Croce, president of the Sixers, also gave $25,000.

Katz's biggest donors in the latest reporting period (and total for his campaign) include: Kimmel, $100,000 ($200,000 total); Dorrance Hamilton, the Campbell Soup heiress, individually and through a PAC she funded, $50,000 ($150,000); John Haas, retired chairman of Rohm & Haas, $100,000 ($125,000); builder Jack Wolgin, $25,000 ($125,000); Warren "Andy" Musser, chairman of Safeguard Scientifics Inc., $105,000 ($111,000); Stephen Kendall, executive at Aluminum Shapes Inc., $75,000 ($100,000); Fred Anton, head of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association, $35,000 ($65,000); Chestnut Hill conservationist Jane O'Neill, $25,100 ($75,100); Dennis Alter, head of Advanta Corp., $25,000 ($80,000).

Among PACs, the largest giver was a committee controlled by Gov. Ridge, whose campaign fund has donated $85,000 to Katz, much of it in the last month. The PAC for the law firm Wolf, Block Schorr & Solis-Cohen has given his campaign $66,000.