BLOOMBERG BUYS HIS WAY INTO POWER! SPENDS $64.7 MILLION ON THIS CAMPAIGN!

How much is a third term worth to Mayor Bloomberg? To be precise, $64,756,118.47 - for now.
That's how much he has spent - through Monday - on his campaign. And it's more than 16 times the $3,826,466 his rival, city Controller William Thompson, has spent.

Bloomberg is worth an estimated $17.5 billion, so he can certainly afford it, but the $64.7 million is more than he had spent at this point in his first two campaigns.

"It's an obscene amount of money that's being spent," Thompson said outside City Hall, where he was endorsed Friday by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 3.

"What you have is a two-term mayor who shouldn't be able to run for a third term, but is trying to spend, almost trying to buy the election. I don't think New Yorkers are for sale."

The new figures were released on the one-year anniversary of Bloomberg's announcement that he would try to overturn the city's term limits law so he could run again. The City Council changed the law a month later.

Bloomberg's biggest expenses have been $22,276,713 for TV ads, $9,979,505 for mailings and $1,874,000 for polls - as well as $12,681,582 for staff and consultants and $1,466,776 in rent for his campaign offices.

His largesse is also reflected in four-figure payments for deli bills, pizza, car service and meals for his staffers.

There was also a $1,575.69 bill from a Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, exterminator and $185 to the NYPD tow pound in Queens, apparently to get back a staffer's towed car.

The impact of Bloomberg's spending is heightened by Thompson's poor ability to raise money.

He has received $5,610,935 from donors since he launched his campaign, but has struggled to reap new funds since Bloomberg entered the race.

In the most recent reporting period, Thompson raised just $35,791 - far less than the $237,866 raised in the same period by Bloomberg's 2005 opponent, Fernando Ferrer.

"Bill Thompson's fund-raising continues to lag behind previous Democratic nominees, a strong signal that he isn't generating excitement or grass-roots support for his candidacy," said Bloomberg spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker.

Thompson also has received $2,460,974 in taxpayer matching funds, as an incentive to raise many small donations from New Yorkers instead of relying on large contributors.

Because of Bloomberg's heavy spending, New Yorkers who give up to $175 to Thompson qualify him for $1,487.50 in matching funds - which Thompson said will help him win.

He could qualify for as much as $7,697,500 in matching funds, though.