NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has spent $64.8 million of his own money in his bid for a third term and, since midsummer, has been spending campaign cash at a rate of $15,000 per hour.
The popular billionaire incumbent is heavily favored against Democrat William Thompson Jr., who has collected $8 million in donations and public matching funds. He has spent about half of it, or about one-sixteenth of what Bloomberg has spent.
Bloomberg, whose fortune is estimated at $17.5 billion by Forbes magazine, does not raise money and is allowed by law to spend as he wishes on his campaign. He must file expense reports, and his latest was released for a Friday deadline set by the city's Campaign Finance Board.
Since his last report, on July 11, the mayor has spent $28.2 million. That works out to about $15,000 per hour.
Bloomberg, who founded the financial information company that bears his name, is ranked by Forbes as the richest person in New York City and the eighth-richest American.
He has been blanketing airwaves and filling mailboxes with ads, spending seemingly without limit at a pace and intensity that doesn't match the level of competition in the race.
Public opinion polls continue to find him with a comfortable lead over Thompson. A Quinnipiac University poll last week had Bloomberg leading by 16 points.
Yet, with one month to go until Election Day, Bloomberg has spent tens of millions on advertising, millions on polling and the best strategists and consultants, and tens of thousands on staff perks like food and transportation — expenses that city campaigns often expect their volunteers and workers to cover themselves.
By this point in the last mayoral race in 2005, when Bloomberg was also favored over his Democratic challenger, he had spent about $46.6 million. He went on to spend $85 million, while his opponent spent $10 million.
Bloomberg has defended his jaw-dropping spending as something he has the right to do, and says it is expensive to get out his message.
