By Emily Cadei, CQ Staff

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has repeatedly denied any interest in making an independent run for president, but that has not stopped his supporters from raising and spending a significant sum of money during the first quarter of 2008. Three interconnected political organizations, Draft Bloomberg Joint Fundraising Committee, Draft Bloomberg PAC (Political Action Committee) and Draft Bloomberg Committee, were all actively raising money in the first three months of the year, though the Joint Fundraising Committee and PAC both filed termination reports Monday.

Before closing up shop, however, the Joint Fundraising Committee transferred $314,000 to the Draft Bloomberg Committee, a 527 organization run by Doug Bailey, a Republican consultant and co-founder of the now defunct “Unity ‘08,” which was formed to promote centrist politics. The committee, which is still operational, spent $280,000 in the first quarter, with $64,000 going to online advertising and much of the rest to payroll and consulting services.