New York mayor's race cost Bloomberg $76 million

Bloomberg beat Democrat Mark Green in November's election.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Billionaire Republican Michael Bloomberg spent more than $76 million of his own money to become mayor of New York City -- a record for a non-presidential election in the United States.

The final tally shows he spent $73.9 million during his race to defeat Democrat Mark Green, and $2.5 million on his transition and inaugural ceremony, according to papers filed by his campaign staff Friday. The total is up from the $74.7 million reported in January.

That amounts to more than four times what Green spent, and exceeds the combined $68.9 million spent by Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Rick Lazio in the 2000 U.S. Senate race.

Bloomberg, who is worth an estimated $4.5 billion, owns the financial data company Bloomberg L.P.

The mayor did not have a public schedule on Saturday, but he addressed the issue shortly after beating Green last November.

"If you could have told me how to do it cheaper, I would have been happy to hear that. I didn't win by that much. I made the money myself. I spent it to try to make this city better, and I don't see anything obscene about that," he said. "If I can make a difference in this city, it was worth every penny."

Bloomberg received 744,757 votes in the general election to Green's 676,717.

He succeeded Rudy Giuliani in office.