Alex Dyson, the former Triple J host who has failed to topple Liberal frontbencher Dan Tehan at three federal elections, received almost $2.2m for his latest campaign, topping the list of donations for individual candidates in the May poll.

The independent candidate for Wannon received $2,186,936 from 1,786 donors to challenge Tehan in the regional Victorian seat, Australian Electoral Commission data released on Monday showed.

The data shows Dyson’s electoral spending was almost $1.1m, suggesting $1.1m was unspent in his campaign. A sense of optimism: independents in regional Australia claim to offer a new kind of politics, but can they win? Read more

Dyson told Guardian Australia an administrative error was behind the disparity, and his campaign’s expenditure totalled nearly $2m.

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