Bloomberg spends $85M of own cash

NEW YORK, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has spent a record $85 million of his own money on his latest reelection campaign, records show.

Campaign records released Friday show that the Republican, a Wall Street entrepreneur and media tycoon, is on pace to spend between $110 million and $140 million in the run-up to the Nov. 3 election, The New York Times reported.

If the figures are borne out, he will have spent more than $250 million in Bloomberg's three mayoral campaigns, the newspaper said.

"I have never seen anything like this --it's off the charts," Jennifer Steen, a Yale University political science lecturer, told the Times. "He's in a league of his own."

Analysts said his self-spending easily surpasses totals posted by other wealthy candidates, such as New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, who spent $130 million in two races for governor and one for U.S. Senate.

A spokesman for Bloomberg's Democratic rival, William Thompson, called the mayor's spending "obscene."

"Voters in this race have a choice between one candidate who is independent and doesn't take a dime from special interests and another who practices politics as usual." Bloomberg campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson told the Times.