Rich people throwing their money around to win elections generally displease us. But suppose that a billionaire is a superb political leader who deserves re-election. In such cases, we put our discomfort aside and support him or her.

That is the situation many New York City voters find themselves in as they consider their choices for mayor in tomorrow’s election. The incumbent, Michael Bloomberg, is one of the richest men in the world, but he is also one of the best mayors in Gotham’s history, and a model for other mayors. He deserves re-election despite some broken promises and even though his Democratic foe, city Comptroller William Thompson, is an able and attractive candidate.

Mr. Bloomberg has used his extraordinary business skill to oversee a $60 billion government in a city notoriously hard to run. And consider that when he was first elected less than two months after the Sept. 11 attacks in New York’s financial district, tourists feared coming into town and budget assumptions fell apart.

In that dismal time, he refused to embark on deep layoffs and compromise city services. Instead, he raised real-estate taxes to a disapproving chorus of fellow Republicans. When the economy improved, he started to set money aside. As a result of that prudent management, New York is surviving the current deep recession in far better shape than most municipalities.

During the two Bloomberg terms, city services became much better. Crime fell, thanks in large part to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. And public education, one of Mr. Bloomberg’s passions, has improved, as well.

Mr. Bloomberg left the Republican Party last year and registered as an Independent. But his name will appear on both the Republican and Independent lines on the ballot. Earlier in his life, Mr. Bloomberg was a Democrat. Party labels clearly do not apply to him.

Mr. Thompson has made an issue of Mr. Bloomberg’s efforts to get rid of the term limits that would have made him ineligible to run again, and we don’t blame him. Wise or not, term limits were passed by the voters, and Mr. Bloomberg has vowed not to run for more than two terms. That he now offers to help restore term limits after the election makes his earlier turnaround even more distressing.

The political world, meanwhile, stands in awe at the money Mr. Bloomberg is spending to defeat the far-lesser-known Mr. Thompson — over $85 million, of course a fortune for any candidate but particularly one with high approval ratings. Mr. Thompson is expected to spend less than $5 million, which will include public matching funds.

Mr. Bloomberg will have gone through a quarter-billion dollars of his own money by the time his three mayoral runs are completed. That’s what Warner Brothers spent to produce the latest Harry Potter movie, says The New York Times. No American will have spent more of his own money running for office.

Mr. Thompson has called these amounts “obscene,” and we must agree. But the man who is spending these many millions has performed brilliantly as New York mayor, which some have called the hardest job in America.

We must conclude that Michael Bloomberg is a very special case.