Mayor Bloomberg, other pols hoping campaign commercials are spot on

(e3media)--Billionaire Mayor Bloomberg's long been flooding the airwaves with his pitches for a third term.

Starting Thursday, the mayor's got some company: The first of the down-ballot candidates - Eric Gioia of Queens - is out of the starting gate with his own ad.

Gioia, a Democratic city councilman running for public advocate, is hitting the airwaves with "Been There," an introductory spot that seeks to convince viewers that he can understand and solve their problems because his own life experiences mirror theirs.

"For every New Yorker who's gone to public schools, who's worked the late shift or worried about making the rent, there's one Democrat for public advocate who's been there, too. Eric Gioia," a narrator says.

Gioia is competing for the Democratic nomination against former Public Advocate Mark Green, Brooklyn City Councilman Bill de Blasio and civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel.

As of his last campaign finance filing, Gioia - who attended elementary and secondary public schools and Catholic high school - had raised more than $2 million, far more than any of his foes.

A Gioia aide said "Been There" will debut with "hundreds" of airings on a variety of cable shows.

"Eric [has] a story that [is] really going to resonate with people, and has done an amazing job raising money that [is] going to give him a chance to tell that story," the aide said.

Gioia needs that chance to build up name recognition: The poll-leading Green has held the job twice, run for many other offices, written books and held down a regular TV pundit gig.

While Gioia may be among the first to go on the small screen, expect plenty more TV, print, radio and Web advertising in the weeks before the Sept. 15 primary.

For some - Democratic mayoral hopeful William Thompson, controller candidate David Yassky and Manhattan district attorney contender Leslie Crocker Snyder - filming's already underway. Controller candidate John Liu goes to air in a matter of weeks.

For the average candidate, "You want to maximize the punch" by waiting until voters are focused on the race - usually right before the election, one politico said.

"None of us quite have the resources that Mike Bloomberg does," he added dryly.