SEATTLE_Michael Bloomberg has yet to set foot in Washington state in support of his 2020 presidential campaign. But the ex-New York City mayor's face and message already are on full blast here.
The billionaire has pumped more than $2 million into broadcast TV ads in the Seattle market, according to filings with the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC. The ads have blanketed news programs, NFL games and talk shows on the area's major broadcast stations, including KING, KOMO, KONG, KIRO, and Q13 Fox.
Bloomberg's sole competition among 2020 rivals in Seattle broadcast TV spending comes from another billionaire candidate, California businessman Tom Steyer, who aired a $70,000 stretch of ads on KOMO ending in early December as part of a national buy on stations owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group.
The local Bloomberg barrage is a small slice of the $120 million worth of TV spots he's bought nationally in just one month since entering the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. Steyer has spent $83 million, while South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg ranks a distant third at $19 million, according to Politico.
"I don't know that we have ever seen this level of spending," said Sandeep Kaushik, a Seattle-based Democratic political consultant, pointing to Washington's typically low-rung status in presidential nominating contests. "What the Bloomberg campaign is testing, and what we are going to find out, is what are the limits to unlimited spending."
Washington's 2020 presidential primary is scheduled for March 10, earlier than in previous election cycles, but still almost certain to be overshadowed by Super Tuesday on March 3, when a dozen states will hold primaries or caucuses, including the delegate-rich prizes of California and Texas.
