Michael Bloomberg has spent well over $200M on presidential campaign so far

Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg contributed more than $200 million US of his own money to his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination as of the end of 2019, according to disclosures his campaign filed on Friday with the Federal Election Commission.

Of that, Bloomberg's campaign spent $188 million, according to the disclosures.

That number likely swelled in January as he has continued to pump millions of dollars into television ads and the costs of running a campaign.

Bloomberg, a late entry to the Democratic competition to take on Republican President Donald Trump in November, has pledged not to take any donations and finance his campaign by dipping into his estimated $60 billion US fortune.

While he trails Democratic front-runners Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders in public opinion polls, his level of support is rising as he spends heavily on a national election campaign.  

Bloomberg is not competing in the first four states in the nominating contest, including Iowa, which holds caucuses on Monday.

Because he does not meet the individual donor threshold set out by the party, Bloomberg as it stands currently will not be participating in the next debate of candidates, scheduled for Feb. 7 in Manchester, N.H.

Bloomberg, who will turn 78 in February, is campaigning in the states that hold nominating contests in March and beyond. There will be over a dozen states in play on so-called Super Tuesday, which is March 3, and the month overall features nearly two-thirds of all primary contests.

He is also blanketing national airwaves with political ads. Independent trackers estimate he has spent at least $250 million on television ads. The strategy is reportedly pushing up buy rates for other candidates.