Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has purchased at least $31 million in television advertising as the businessman gears up to make a last-minute entrance in the 2020 presidential race.
According to Advertising Analytics, a firm tracking the digital ad buys throughout the 2020 election cycle, Bloomberg has dropped the $31 million on ads across 25 markets in key nominating states of the Democratic primary.
He's done it. @MikeBloomberg has spent the most money of any candidate ever on a single week of political advertising. We're looking at $31M dollars from 11/25-12/3. https://t.co/YiwFaR0udB
— AdImpact Politics (@AdImpact_Pol) November 22, 2019
One market includes West Palm, Beach Florida, the site of President Donald Trump’s resort Mar-A-Lago.
Bloomberg’s ad campaign is set to run from Nov. 25 through the end of the Thanksgiving holiday week, and the revelations of the ad campaign come the day after Bloomberg officially filed federal paperwork to enter the presidential contest.
Bloomberg’s team however, has denied the paperwork means the former New York City mayor has officially entered the race, and said it’s just another step towards making the final decision.
“It’s another step closer to shaking up the race,” Bradley Tusk, an advisor to Bloomberg, told the New York Post.
The billionaire businessman previously pledged to spend at least $100 million on the campaign if he decides to enter the crowded primary.
Bloomberg’s impending decision comes little more than two months away from the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses, with the New Hampshire primary only a week after.
Since leaving New York City Hall in 2013, Bloomberg has actively promoted left-wing causes such as gun control and environmentalism with his billions. In 2018, Bloomberg spent $80 million to help flip the House of Representatives to the Democrats.
If he were to run, Bloomberg would not be the only last-minute entrance into the race. Earlier this month, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick launched a White House bid with hopes of capturing moderate voters peeling away from former Vice President Joe Biden while socialist Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont appear poised to clinch the nomination if Biden were to falter.
Bloomberg would be the second billionaire to compete for the 2020 Democratic nomination, and is about 33 times richer with a net worth of $54 billion compared to Tom Steyer’s $1.6 billion, according to Forbes. The American business magazine has estimated Trump’s net worth to be at $3.1 billion.
Bloomberg is also the same age as Biden, at 77 years old.
