Article snippet: Michael R. Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York City, bought at least $30 million in television ads Friday ahead of an expected Democratic run for president, a formidable show of financial force in presidential politics. The ad buy, covering only an eight-day period, will begin Monday in more than two dozen states from California to Maine, according to ad trackers. This initial television campaign will feature 60-second ads — a sign of a massive 2020 Bloomberg campaign budget that could easily stretch well into the nine-figure range. The scope of Bloomberg’s ad buy is staggering. It costs more than some smaller campaigns have spent all year on advertising and more than what Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey had raised in donations from February through the end of September. Bloomberg will spend $1.2 million in Los Angeles, $863,000 in Chicago, $754,000 in Boston, $626,000 in Houston and $611,000 in Dallas, according to Advertising Analytics, a media-tracking company. And more reservations were still arriving Friday. Bloomberg was not overlooking smaller states either. He had booked $43,000 in ads, for instance, in Fargo, North Dakota. Bloomberg has not officially announced he is running for president, though earlier this week, he filed a formal “statement of candidacy” with the Federal Election Commission. He had previously filed to be on the ballot in two states. His expected entry has injected a new element of uncertainty into the race, highlightin... Link to the full article to read more