By Heather Grossmann
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
Billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg has spent $64.8 million so far on his third-term bid for mayor, according to financial reports his campaign released on Friday.
That’s about $15K an hour, according to 1010 Wins’ calculations.
He is on track to blow past his record-setting 2005 campaign expenditures, which totaled $85 million, and he has already doubled the amount he spent on his 2001 campaign.
Among the recipients of the mayor’s big bucks is the communications firm Squier Knapp Dunn, which creates TV ads and direct mailers for the campaign.
Bloomberg’s Democratic rival, Comptroller William Thompson, has only released one TV ad to date. His campaign spent $3.8 million as of Friday's filing with the New York City Campaign Finance Board. The mayor is currently outspending him 20 to 1.
Because of the millions of personal dollars Bloomberg has contributed to his campaign, the Campaign Finance Board has declared a bonus situation in the race, which allows for a higher-matching rate and an increase on the cap on public funds Thompson can receive.
Because the mayor does not accept contributions, the CFB laws do not apply to him.
Regardless, he would like to see these laws changed.
This August, Bloomberg proposed reforming the campaign finance laws to restrict matching contributions from lobbyists and people who do business with the city.