US election: Bloomberg will spend $100m to get Biden elected
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s onetime rival, billionaire Mike Bloomberg, will spend $100 million to get Biden elected in Florida.
Of the battleground states Florida offers the biggest share of the electoral college votes needed to win.
Florida offers 29 of the 270 electoral college voters needed to win the election. Only California (55) and Texas (38) offer more but are seen as safe Democrat and Republican territory respectively. President Trump won Florida in 2016, while Democrat Barack Obama took the state in 2012.
“Voting starts on Sept. 24 in Florida so the need to inject real capital in that state quickly is an urgent need,” Bloomberg adviser Kevin Sheekey said in a statement. “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.”
Bloomberg ran against Biden in the 2020 Democratic primary and dropped out of the race in March after his record spending failed to yield any wins on Super Tuesday beyond a single victory in the American Samoa caucuses.
On the other hand, Donald Trump has hinted he will spend his own money in the state ahead of early voting opening on 24 September.
Both campaigns are keen to appeal to voters who may be casting their votes early by post and set the tone of the final weeks of their campaigns.
Postal voting is expected to be double this year compared to 2016 due to the coronavirus pandemic encouraging voters to avoid the polling station.
President Trump went after Bloomberg on Twitter on Sunday morning in an apparent reaction to the news.
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
Earlier this week when asked by journalists if he was considering spending his own money in Florida, Mr Trump told reporters “If I have to, I will. Whatever it takes, we have to win.”
The president initially had a significant financial advantage over his rival but Mr Biden’s successful fundraising has closed the gap.
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