Bloomberg, Steyer spend combined $340 million in fourth quarter

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and businessman Tom Steyer spent a combined $340 million in the last quarter of 2019, far outpacing the amount spent by their rivals in the Democratic presidential race.

The two billionaire candidates competing in the crowded Democratic primary also gave their campaigns a combined $355 million in the same period, according to Federal Election Commission data released on Friday.

Bloomberg, who is entirely self-funding his campaign, spent more than $188 million in the fourth quarter and ended the period with $12 million in cash on hand. Steyer spent around $153 million in the last quarter of the year and ended it with $5.4 million in cash on hand.

The figures show that Bloomberg and Steyer each spent more in the final three months of 2019 than four of the top Democratic contenders combined.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) spent a little more than $50 million in the fourth quarter, while former South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg spent $34 million and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) spent $33.7 million. Former Vice President Joe Biden spent more than $23.3 million during that period. 

The spending totals appear to have benefited Bloomberg and Steyer in recent polls, with Bloomberg especially seeing a bounce in national surveys.

A Morning Consult survey released on Tuesday showed Bloomberg, who entered the race in November, hitting 12 percent support, putting him ahead of Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).

Bloomberg is not competing in the early primary and caucus states and has instead focused his resources on massive ad buys in the Super Tuesday states. 

He spent roughly $132 million on TV advertisements in addition to $8.19 million on digital ads. 

Steyer has also worked to inundate the airwaves with advertisements in addition to making the Democratic debate stage.

A Morning Consult poll of the four early primary and caucus states showed Steyer at 15 percent earlier this month.