The race for Detroit's top job is heating up, as current City Council President Mary Sheffield and the Rev. Solomon Kinloch head into this final week of campaigning.

One major development is funding. CBS News Detroit dug into the new campaign contribution filings, which show a sizeable gap between the two candidates.

On Friday, Sheffield's team reported raising more than $1.2 million, compared to just over $137,000 by Kinloch's team. These figures count all the money donated between Aug. 26 and Oct. 19, which is the final reporting period before Election Day.

"In the private setting, we talk about how time is money. In the political setting, money is time," said Michael Montgomery, a political scientist and lecturer at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. "It really is a measure of, sort of, the size and aggressiveness of the campaign."

While the numbers may seem straightforward, Montgomery, who specializes in campaign finance, says the implications reach farther than we may think.

"That translates into a difference in the type and level of media they're using, the type and level of staff they have on the street doing outreach activities," said Montgomery.

Montgomery says where and how the candidates got the funds is also important. While Sheffield has led Kinloch in donations throughout the course of the race, the last three months have marked a big difference.

CBS News Detroit pored over the numbers and receipts and found that Sheffield had Kinloch by nearly 9 to 1. Sheffield's biggest donor was $83,250 from the Michigan Laborers' Political League political action committee. Meanwhile, a majority of Kinloch's funds came from small, individual donors, often called grassroots organizing, ranging from $50 to $250.

"Two to 1 happens, 3 to 1 happens once in a while, but 9 to 1, almost 10 to 1 is extremely rare," said Montgomery.

Montgomery says that the gap may mean the difference between reaching undecided voters before they make it to the ballot box.

"I think there's going to be a huge difference in the amount of media exposure, if they decide they want to do a big push at the end and run up the numbers," said Montgomery.