Michael Bloomberg to spend US$100m in Florida to help Joe Biden's presidential campaign
NEW YORK: Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who spent US$1 billion on his 2020 Democratic presidential bid before dropping out, plans to inject at least US$100 million to help Democrat Joe Biden's effort against Republican President Donald Trump in the important swing state of Florida.
The billionaire's decision comes at a critical moment in the final 51 days of the race, with polls showing a close race in the battleground state and no financial advantage for the sitting president.Trump's initial financial supremacy over former Vice President Biden has evaporated after the Republican's campaign spent freely and Democratic fundraising surged once the party's divisive primary ended."Mike Bloomberg is committed to helping defeat Trump, and that is going to happen in the battleground states," said Bloomberg adviser Kevin Sheekey, who added that the spending "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".Even before Bloomberg's spending, both campaigns were expecting Florida to be the most expensive state in which to campaign. It will be the biggest prize among competitive states on Election Day, offering 29 of the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win.
Voting by mail in the state starts on Sep 24, and Biden is planning his first in-person visit to Florida of the general election season on Tuesday.
Trump won the state by 113,000 votes in his victorious 2016 election, or 1.2 percentage points. He has since adopted the state as his residence and visits regularly.
Recent polls have shown Biden with a very slim margin there, gaining ground with older voters but trailing previous Democrats' performance with Latinos. People over 65 years old make up one in five of the state's voters and Latinos make up one in four.
"Voting starts on Sep 24 in Florida so the need to inject real capital in that state quickly is an urgent need," Bloomberg advisor Kevin Sheekey told the Post.
"Mike believes that by investing in Florida, it will allow campaign resources and other Democratic resources to be used in other states, in particular the state of Pennsylvania," he added.
Trump's re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee on Wednesday said they raised a combined US$210 million in August, falling far short of Biden's record-breaking haul of US$364.5 million for the month that included both party's televised conventions.
The strong fundraising may have allowed Biden to completely erase a long deficit in fundraising against Trump. Before the August fundraising tally, the Trump campaign reported having US$300 million in cash on hand, compared with Biden's US$294 million. Neither campaign has reported a more recent figure.
All of this year's top swing states - Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Arizona - went to Trump in 2016, including four which had voted for Democrat Barack Obama in 2012.The Republican president, who trails Biden in national opinion polls before the Nov 3 election, told reporters last week that he would spend his own money if needed.
"I thought Mini Mike was through with Democrat politics," Trump said on Twitter on Sunday. "Save NYC instead."
Democrats had worried that Bloomberg's promised help for the party might not come through after he abandoned his own presidential primary campaign. Some were angered by Bloomberg's getting a prime-time speaking slot at the Democratic convention in August.
A Bloomberg aide said the money would be used to help bring people to the polls who support Biden and communicating with Latino voters, in particular.
"This will force Republicans and the Trump campaign to shift even more of their limited resources to Florida," the aide said.