[ad_1]
NEW YORK: Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who spent $ 1 billion on his 2020 Democratic presidential bid before retiring, plans to inject at least $ 100 million to help Democrat Joe Biden’s effort against Republican President Donald Trump in the important state of Florida.
The billionaire’s decision comes at a critical moment in the final 51 days of the contest, with polls showing a close contest on the state of the battlefield and no financial advantage for the incumbent president.
Trump’s initial financial supremacy over former Vice President Biden evaporated after the Republican campaign freely spent and Democratic fundraising surged once the party’s divisive primaries ended.
“Mike Bloomberg is committed to helping defeat Trump, and that is going to happen in the battlefield states,” said Bloomberg adviser Kevin Sheekey, adding that the spending “will mean that Democrats and the Biden campaign can invest even more in other key states, like Pennsylvania, which will be critical to Biden’s victory. “
Even before the Bloomberg spending, both campaigns expected Florida to be the most expensive state to campaign for. It will be the largest award among competitive states on Election Day, offering 29 of the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win.
Voting by mail in the state begins Sept. 24, and Biden is planning his first in-person visit to Florida during the general election season on Tuesday.
Trump won the state by 113,000 votes in his victorious 2016 election, or 1.2 percentage points. Since then he has adopted the state as his residence and visits it regularly.
Recent polls have shown Biden with a very narrow margin there, gaining ground with older voters but lagging behind previous Democrats’ performance with Latinos. People 65 and older make up one in five of the state’s voters, and Latinos make up one in four.
“Voting begins Sept. 24 in Florida, so the need to inject real capital into that state quickly is an urgent need,” Bloomberg adviser Kevin Sheekey told the Post.
“Mike believes that by investing in Florida, he will allow campaign resources and other Democratic resources to be used in other states, particularly the state of Pennsylvania,” he added.
Trump’s re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee said Wednesday they raised a total of $ 210 million in August, well below Biden’s record gross of $ 364.5 million for the month that included televised conventions. of both parties.
Strong fundraising may have allowed Biden to completely erase a long fundraising deficit against Trump. Before the August fundraising tally, the Trump campaign reported having $ 300 million in cash on hand, compared to Biden’s $ 294 million. No campaign has reported a more recent figure.
All of the top changing states this year (Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Arizona) went to Trump in 2016, including four that voted for Democrat Barack Obama in 2012.
The Republican president, who follows Biden in national opinion polls ahead of the Nov. 3 election, told reporters last week that he would spend his own money if necessary.
“I thought Mini Mike was done with Democratic politics,” Trump said on Twitter Sunday. “Save New York instead.”
Democrats were concerned that Bloomberg’s promised aid to the party would not be delivered after he abandoned his own presidential primary campaign. Some were angered that Bloomberg got a primetime speaking slot at the Democratic convention in August.
A Bloomberg aide said the money would be used to help Biden supporters and reach out to Latino voters at the polls, in particular.
“This will force Republicans and the Trump campaign to shift even more of their limited resources to Florida,” the aide said.
