Bloomberg drops $124m in Super Tuesday states

Democratic presidential candidate Michael R. Bloomberg has spent more than $124 million (NZ$193.4m) on advertising in the 14 Super Tuesday states, well over 10 times what his top rivals have put into the contests that yield the biggest trove of delegates in a single day. The only other candidate to advertise across most of those states so far is Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who has spent just under $10m on ads for the March 3 primaries. Bloomberg has also poured millions into ground operations in Super Tuesday states. In Colorado, where voters already are casting primary ballots by mail, he has a paid staff of 55 people; Sanders has two. For nearly three months, Bloomberg has been the only Democrat to devote most of his travel to those states, which include California, Texas and North Carolina. His opponents are still scrambling to gain traction in contests on Saturday in Nevada and February 29 in South Carolina. Bloomberg is skipping those races, as he did earlier in Iowa and New Hampshire. There will be 1357 pledged delegates up for grabs on March 3; it takes 1991 to capture the nomination.