On election day, November 3, 2009, a whimsical post appeared at the Reverend Billy for Mayor of NYC website. Reverend Billy’s campaign claimed that, since he had just won $100 million dollars in the lottery, Reverend Billy now had a fair chance to beat Mayor Bloomberg for Mayor. Here is the headline: “REV. BILLY TALEN ANNOUNCES $100 MILLION LOTTERY WIN: “I am now a legitimate candidate!” Exclaims the Green Party nominee for Mayor”
Well, the after campaign reports are out: Mayor Bloomberg literally spent $102,000,000 dollars on his re-election campaign. Reverend Billy was on to something.
(excerpt from) The Daily News
Mayor Bloomberg spent $102M on campaign to win third term – or $175 per vote
By Celeste Katz / Saturday, November 28th 2009, 4:00 AM
Mayor Bloomberg’s third campaign for mayor has become the most expensive political campaign in American history.
Mayor Bloomberg’s 2009 campaign spending of more than $102 million to win a third term shatters a record previously set by … Mayor Bloomberg.
The mayor – who has spent more of his own cash pursuing elected office than anyone in U.S. history – blazed through $18.7 million between Oct. 20 and Thursday, new figures show.
Bloomberg, whose worth has been pegged at $17 billion, prevailed by less than 5 percentage points despite wildly outspending city Controller William Thompson, who ran on private donations and public matching funds…
Thompson’s official numbers come out Monday, but an aide said he spent about $8.3 million – or about $15.51 per vote. That would mean Bloomberg outspent Thompson by about 12 to 1…
There’s a mixed message in the bang Bloomberg got for his buck this year after angering some voters by pushing the City Council to overturn the two-term limit for mayors, said Prof. David Birdsell of Baruch College.
Although it may be “bad for democracy” to have one candidate with so much more financial firepower than any rival, he said, the slim margin suggests there’s “hope for people who can run tough, effective campaigns to exploit the weaknesses of even extraordinarily well-financed candidates.”…
Filed under: 3rd party, campaign finance reform, Election 2009, elections, green, Green Party, local, New York State Politics, News, progressive politics, third party, US Politics Tagged: | Bill Thompson, Billy Talen, Bloomberg, campaign finance, Mayor Bloomberg, Mayor of NYC, Reverend Billy, William Thompson
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