According to City Comptroller Bill Thompson's latest campaign fiance filings, the Observer reports that he spent "$9,003,711...on his campaign, which came within a few percentage points of beating Michael Bloomberg's $102 million re-election campaign...In his latest filing period, Thompson spent $1,040,000 on television ads, along with $309,887 on consultants. Among Thompson's notable expenditures is $400 for a makeup artist Sue Crystal. A campaign spokesman said it was for the debate in El Barrio, whose television sponsor, New York 1, did not offer the candidates makeup before appearing on air." Factoid: "Anthony Weiner's campaign also donated on $4,950 on October 29, the day Thompson's pollster released numbers saying the race was tightening." more ›

After his surprisingly competitive mayoral bid against Mayor Bloomberg, there have been various rumors about what City Comptroller Bill Thompson might do next. First there were murmurs of a Senate run, and then ones that Andrew Cuomo was eyeing him as a running mate during for his gubernatorial campaign. Now the NY Times says the Senate run is just one of three options that Thompson is mulling. more ›

A new Marist poll showed that incumbent Mayor Michael Bloomberg leads challenger City Comptroller William Thompson by 15 points among likely voters, 53% to 38%. What's more, the poll notes, "Mayor Bloomberg’s action to extend term limits from two to three terms is not a deciding factor for 45% of voters. Although a large proportion of voters — 43% — says it makes them less likely to vote for the mayor, this number has not grown through the course of the campaign." more ›

PolitickerNY got an early look at a WABC 7 mayoral election poll conducted by Survey USA: "Bloomberg leads Thompson 51 to 43 percent according to the poll, which has a margin of error of 4.2 percent, and was conducted from October 3 to 5. The poll interviewed 1,000 'adults,' of which 888 were registered voters, and 561 were considered 'likely voters.'" more ›

A new Quinnipiac poll shows that City Comptroller Bill Thompson, the likely Democratic candidate for mayor, has erased some of the gap between himself and Mayor Bloomberg: PolitickerNY reports, "Thompson trails Bloomberg 47 to 37 among city voters, compared to the 54-to-32 spread in Quinnipiac’s June 16 poll," also noting that Bloomberg was ID'd for the first time as a "Republican and independent." Howard Wolfson, spokesman for Bloomberg's campaign, said, “This shows that when you change the wording of any poll, no matter how good, you get a different result. The fact is NYers know that Mike Bloomberg is an independent who governs in a nonpartisan way, which is why roughly two thirds of New Yorkers consistently approve of his job performance and why he has double digit leads over both of his opponents," while Thompson campaign spokeswoman Carly Lindauer said, "Mike Bloomberg has spent nearly $40 million to see his poll numbers decline. It’s clear that after eight years of a Republican mayor who’s been focused on those at the top, New Yorkers want change in City Hall." more ›

City Comptroller William Thompson released his campaign finance figures through July 11 and so far, he's spent $2.4 million out of the over $5 million he's raised. Drilling down further, the NY Post reports that Thompson "raised $200,711 and spent $637,147 between May 11 and July 11." PolitickerNY adds that "Thompson now has $251,836 in matchable contributions, just barely over the $250,000 threshold required before the city's Campaign Finance Board starts giving out money. Which won't allow much margin for error. If about $1,800 of those matching claims are rejected for whatever reason, it could delay Thompson’s ability to get money from the board." Last week, it was revealed Mayor Bloomberg had spent $36 million on his re-election bid so far, which outpaces his spending for his 2005 effort (so far). more ›

According to campaign finance reports, Mayor Bloomberg has spent $36 million on his third-term bid through July 1, which, NY1 notes is significantly higher than the "$23 million that the mayor had spent by this point in 2005." Even November is months away! NY1 also had this fun fact: "One Queens field office employee named Rudy Giuliani, who is a cousin of the former mayor, gets paid nearly $7,000 a month." On the other hand, Bloomberg the citizen has lost $10 million of his personal wealth on investments; his spokesman said, "like everyone else invested in the stock market last year, the mayor lost money." Luckily, Bloomberg still has billions left. City Comptroller Bill Thompson, the likely Democratic challenger, has only spent $1.8 million for his mayoral campaign so far. And one labor leader claims that Bloomberg cancelled a "long-planned" meeting with Obama officials because the Working Families Party endorsed Thompson, not Bloomberg (who apparently really wanted the endorsement). more ›

At last night's Working Families Party mayoral forum with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, City Comptroller Bill Thompson and City Councilman Tony Avella, Bloomberg defended his campaign spending, "I made every dime that I have... I've used my money only to talk about what I would do and what I have done. There's nothing wrong with that as far as I can see... Rich people don’t always win...You can't buy an election. The public's much too smart for that. You can use it to get a message out." The NY Times, though, found the explanation "drew some hisses and even laughter." more ›

At 5:30 p.m., the Working Families Party is hosting a mayoral forum with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, City Comptroller William Thompson, and City Councilman Tony Avella. The WFP will stream video of the forum live on their website. The candidates were given questions in advance, because, the WFP explained to PolitickerNY's Azi Paybarah, it would give the candidates a chance to offer "serious answers." Paybarah got the questions through one of the candidates' staffers—read them here, but here's one, "Paid Sick Days: During the Swine Flu panic, public health officials urged New Yorkers to stay home if they felt sick. But thousands of working New Yorkers don’t have a single day of paid sick time. Should New York City pass an ordinance mandating paid sick days for everyone who works inside the city limits?" more ›

City Comptroller William Thompson issued the "Capital Debt and Obligations report" and found that capital projects costs, which are "funded primarily with debt, has escalated by 187 percent since Fiscal Year 1990"—which translates into a debt per capita of $7,153. Thompson, as the city will will struggle to pay interest on its $59 billion "mortgage," said, "Capital projects that seemed affordable before may have been based on a revenue bubble that has since burst. New York City leads other large American cities in average debt per capita by a margin of two-to-one. Particularly in light of the City’s and the nation’s financial difficulties, it is imperative that now we redefine capital priorities in order to achieve fiscal responsibility.” Thompson is hoping to run against Mayor Bloomberg, who has asked for capital spending cuts of 20%, this fall in the mayoral election. more ›

A year and a half ago, it was discovered the city, per a NY Times article, "fail to collect millions in unpaid water bills." While the city has tried to improve its water bill collection practices, there's one notable deadbeat: The NYC Economic Development Corporation, the agency "responsible for promoting economic growth throughout New York City through real estate development programs, business incentives and more." more ›