Former New York City mayor and presidential candidate, Michael Bloomberg, announced on Sunday that he plans to spend $100 million in Florida over the next few weeks to support Joe Biden‘s presidential candidacy.
What We Know:
- The announcement comes as new polls show a particularly tight race between Biden and President Trump in Florida, a key battleground state in the election due to its 29 electoral votes. The announcement also follows criticism from within the Democratic Party that Bloomberg did not deliver on his promise to put the full weight of his fortune behind the Democratic nominee in the general-election effort to defeat Trump.
- Florida is seen as a must-win state for Trump’s campaign in order for him to reach the needed 270 electoral votes to win re-election as it has been nearly 100 years since a Republican won a presidential election without Florida. For Biden it’s a different story, he is seen as having several routes to reach the 270, without winning Florida’s votes. Bloomberg’s big investment would likely force Republicans to spend more time and money in Florida and allow the Biden campaign to focus its resources on other key battleground states.
- While the commitment in Florida is massive for a one-state program, it is a significant reduction and pullback from some of the promises Bloomberg and his advisors made during the primary season. Bloomberg’s campaign manager, Kevin Sheekey, had privately shared that if Bloomberg did not win the nominee, he would form a super PAC and fund a massive effort against Trump in all of the country’s biggest swing states. But after his candidacy ended, and he spent almost $1 billion on his own unsuccessful run, Bloomberg went back on his plans. For months, his aides said he had not yet approved any spending in the presidential race.
- According to a spokeswoman, the new $100 million commitment in Florida will be routed through one of Bloomberg’s super PACs, Independence USA, as well as other Democratic groups, and the effort is expected to emphasize communications with Hispanic voters, a demographic Biden is struggling with. In a statement, Sheekey said Bloomberg’s latest commitments “will mean Democrats and the Biden campaign can invest even more heavily in other key states like Pennsylvania, which will be critical to a Biden victory.”
- In response to the news on Sunday, Trump ridiculed Bloomberg on Twitter, calling his participation in the Democratic primary debates “the most inept debate performance in the history of presidential politics”.
I thought Mini Mike was through with Democrat politics after spending almost 2 Billion Dollars, and then giving the worst and most inept Debate Performance in the history of Presidential Politics. Pocahontas ended his political career on first question, OVER! Save NYC instead. https://t.co/WgbVvEUt2N
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 13, 2020
- According to Florida Democratic strategist Steve Schale, the Bloomberg investment is a big deal because Florida has not gotten the same level of outside spending as other swing states. Schale added, “It’s early enough that it can really help.” Sheekey agreed with Schale, telling reporters, “If Joe Biden can win Florida on election night, it destroys the lie that the president is trying to propagate — that mail-in ballots will be an attempt to steal the election.”
Voting begins in Florida with the distribution of absentee ballots on September 24th.
