*Big Money

The numbers are in and it turns out Hizzoner spent $103 per vote on his winning mayoral campaign for a total of $77.9 million — so far:

It’s official: There’s a new record for the most money ever spent on a political campaign in the city.

Mayor Bloomberg yesterday reported doling out $77.9 million of his own money on his re-election effort –smashing the previous high mark of $74 million he spent four years ago.

Bloomberg’s megaspending works out to more than $103 per vote. The figures released yesterday were not a final tally, and the number is expected to grow by several million.

The Mayor spent most of his money on television advertising, effectively subsidizing Sam Champion’s salary:

In the race’s last five weeks alone, Bloomberg spent nearly $6 million on a blizzard of commercials and hefty payments to consultants.

Overall, TV stations and consultants added a staggering $45 million to their coffers courtesy of Hizzoner, nearly five times the amount Bloomberg’s opponent, Fernando Ferrer, spent on his entire race.

All of which amounts to a sum the Mayor himself once said would be obscene:

While Bloomberg denied that the gigantic dollar amounts subverted the democratic process, he once said that spending anything close to the $74 million he paid out in 2001 would be “obscene.”

The question now is whether, instead of being one of the most successful Republican mayors ever, Bloomberg’s victory will come with an asterisk . . . which isn’t to excuse Fernando Ferrer, of course. He’s still a big whiner.