McAuliffe has courted and wooed Bloomberg, privately seeking his support on a trip. | AP Photos Bloomberg to buy big for McAuliffe

Michael Bloomberg’s pro-gun-control super PAC will drop $1.1 million on ads for Democrat Terry McAuliffe in the final two weeks of the Virginia governor’s race.

The billionaire New York City mayor’s money will be siphoned through Independence USA PAC into broadcast television commercials in the D.C. market, according to two sources tracking the air war.


An adviser to the outgoing mayor did not respond to an email seeking more detail on the ads, which will begin running Tuesday and continue through the eve of the Nov. 5 election.

McAuliffe has courted and wooed Bloomberg, privately seeking his support on a trip to New York City Hall in August.

( PHOTOS: Terry McAuliffe’s career)

Bloomberg, who bills himself as an independent, has spent more than $15 million on various gun control initiatives. He just spent $1 million helping elect Newark Mayor Cory Booker to a U.S. Senate seat in last Wednesday’s New Jersey special election to replace the late Frank Lautenberg, long a champion of gun control measures.

McAuliffe is unapologetic about his support for stricter gun laws, including an assault weapons ban, universal background checks, limiting the size of magazines and preventing people from buying more than one gun a month. He would unquestionably be a close Bloomberg ally should he win.

The campaign of Republican Ken Cuccinelli, who supports a focus on mental health to reduce gun violence, slammed the ads as out-of-state interference.

( PHOTOS: Ken Cuccinelli’s career)

“Terry McAuliffe and his allies are spending tens of millions of dollars in an attempt to buy Virginia’s governor’s mansion and impose an idealogical agenda that will severely restrict Virginian’s Second Amendment rights, hike energy prices for Virginia families and undermine our right-to-work laws,” said Cuccinelli communications director Richard T. Cullen.

( Also on POLITICO: Giffords group to join in Virginia races)

Cuccinelli is trailing in the polls, partly because he is getting so massively outspent on television. Groups like Planned Parenthood, the National Education Association and billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer have poured in millions.

“McAuliffe’s liberal supporters like Steyer and now Mayor Bloomberg aren’t pumping millions into this race for a few laughs,” said Cullen. “They’re doing so because they expect a return on their investment.”