At 10 months long, Toronto's marathon mayoral campaign is likely one of the most expensive in Canada. Front-running candidates in the city can expect to spend upwards of a million dollars each.

For some big-name mayoral hopefuls, like Rob Ford, raising campaign funds may not be a challenge. On Thursday, the incumbent skipped out on a mayoral debate hosted by Heritage Toronto to host a private fundraiser at his family’s home.

The event was attended by approximately 250 supporters who shelled out $300 a ticket to rub shoulders with Ford and his brother, Coun. Doug Ford. The one-night event fundraised approximately $75,000.

"It exceeded our expectations in raising money," Doug Ford, who is also his brother's campaign manager, told CTV Toronto.

But not every candidate is on such solid financial footing. Coun. Karen Stintz dropped out of the race Thursday morning, saying that she no longer has the funds to continue in the mayoral race.

"This has impacted my financial ability to continue," she told reporters at new conference.

Municipal campaigning in Toronto this year began on Jan. 2. The election will be held on Oct. 27.

Front-running candidate John Tory says running a polished campaign for that amount of time can quickly add up.

"The campaign goes on for a long time, and so if you’re going to have a staff – a modest staff – an office…ads on TV in the fall and have policy papers you send to people, a website, it all costs money," he told CTV Toronto.

According to city rules, mayoral hopefuls cannot accept donations from corporation or trade unions. Individuals can donate a maximum of $2,500 to a candidate.

Candidates can also fund their own campaign – something David Soknacki said he's had to do.

"I had to make a significant investment myself," he told CTV Toronto. "And over the last 24 hours, we've never had more donors come to us."

With just over two months left in the mayoral race, the call for donations has been ramping up. Tory tweeted to his supporters on Tuesday to donate $5 towards his campaign and help "put Toronto back on track."

Chow’s campaign team has also reached out to her supporters asking for donations, putting together a video posted on YouTube explaining why political campaigns can cost a lot of money.

With a report from CTV Toronto’s Natalie Johnson