MANCHESTER, New Hampshire — As members of the Democratic presidential field try to emerge above their rivals, Michael Bloomberg looms over the fractured field waiting to consolidate support.
The ultrabillionaire and former New York mayor has quickly built a massive campaign staff of more than 2,000 people, for whom he is paying top dollar. He has far outspent the rest of the field combined with nearly $300 million on nationwide television ads, according to FiveThirtyEight’s ad tracker.
Far-left Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts have long accused Bloomberg of attempting to buy the presidency. But it is the less-radical and top centrist candidates, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Vice President Joe Biden, and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, to whom Bloomberg poses the biggest threat.
He is skipping the first four primary contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina, but come Super Tuesday on March 3, Bloomberg could be a savior to voters anxious that no centrist candidate is cementing support and becoming the clear alternative to Sanders’s socialist campaign.
The candidates have tried to brush off Bloomberg’s candidacy.
“I don’t think you can skip having voters look you in the eye, ask you what you’re going to do for them, and challenge you, question you,” Buttigieg said on Meet the Press Sunday. “And as the campaign in terms of voters and reporters, seriously asking tough questions of all of the candidates, it has a leveling effect where money alone can’t be the decisive factor.”
“I’m looking forward to debating Mike Bloomberg about his support for African Americans. I’m looking forward to debating Mike Bloomberg about his 10 years as mayor,” Biden said in an MSNBC interview on Tuesday. “I’m looking forward to debating him because I sure can’t compete with him in terms of his money.”
But Bloomberg’s essentially unlimited campaign war chest, funded entirely from his nearly $62 billion fortune and no outside campaign contributions, is a force never before seen in a presidential politics, and he is reaching voters in primary states that his competitors do not have the resources to target.
Bloomberg, for instance, has nearly 40 staff members and five offices in Missouri, which has a primary on March 10, nearly at the scale that top-tier candidates are pouring into competitive early states. Buttigieg has 55 staff members and six field offices in South Carolina.
The investment has translated to Bloomberg climbing to third place in the RealClearPolitics average of national polls, at 14.2%, behind Sanders’s 23.6% and Biden’s 19.2%. Warren is in fourth at 12.4%, and Buttigieg is sixth at 10.6%.
Many voters told the Washington Examiner at various spots in New Hampshire over the last week that even though he skipped campaigning in early states, they don’t feel slighted and would still be happy with, or support, Bloomberg’s bid should he gain traction in the race.
“He’ll shake it up, which is good,” said undecided retired Salem, New Hampshire, resident Pam Bannkert, 61, at an event for Buttigieg.
Even though he was not on the ballot, Bloomberg won in New Hampshire’s small midnight-voting Dixville Notch precinct via write-in ballots.
That openness to Bloomberg demonstrates that adding him to the mix of candidates is bound to shake up the race even further.
“I think he’s interesting too. I would vote for him. I appreciate what he’s done,” said undecided voter Brian Combs, 58, of Brunswick, Maine. The musician, who also runs a farm stand, attended a Sanders rally on Saturday. “Bloomberg could step up out of nowhere right now.”
