Michael Bloomberg is prepared to put his money where his mouth is in his bid for the White House.
The former New York mayor, who is expected to join the Democratic primary to challenge Donald Trump in the 2020 Election, has lined up more than $30 million in advertising spend next week, according to Advertising Analytics, a company that tracks political campaign advertising. A spokesperson for Bloomberg could not be reached.
The amount — Ad Analytics says the TV spots will begin rolling out Monday, Nov. 25 and runs until Tuesday, Dec. 3 — would represent the most ad dollars ever spent by a political candidate in a single week, far outpacing the old record of $24 million by Barack Obama during the last week of his 2012 re-election campaign.
Ad Analytics compiled its data from TV stations, which are required by the FCC to publicly disclose political spending.
As of press time, Bloomberg has lined up $32.5 million in spending, including more than $6 million in national TV spots. Like most campaigns, the majority of the ad buys are in local markets, with New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas and Miami being the most targeted. Bloomberg has spent more than $2 million alone in New York stations.
On Thursday, Bloomberg filed an official statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission. However, the move is more procedural and not yet an official declaration that he’s thrown his hat in the 2020 ring. The first primary is set for Feb. 3, 2020 with the Iowa Caucus, followed by the New Hampshire on Feb. 11, Nevada (Feb. 22) and South Carolina (Feb. 29).