Michael Bloomberg plans to spend $60 million on House races to lock in and expand the Democratic majority, but Republicans say the largesse won’t be as effective as in 2018.
Bloomberg’s donation includes spending on digital and TV ads to help 20 first-term Democrats who the billionaire former Democratic presidential candidate aided with outside money two years ago, helping the party capture its first House majority in eight years.
Contributions by the financial data mogul and former New York City mayor will be distributed to his Independence USA organization as well as to the House Majority PAC, a group aligned with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat.
House Republicans would need a net gain of 19 seats to win back the House majority, an uphill climb since Democrats have a cash advantage, and party nominee Joe Biden leads President Trump in the polls.
Bloomberg’s pledged $60 million to House races includes over $10 million previously given to House Majority PAC, in addition to other financial help he gave to Democrats this election year.
Bloomberg, who dumped large amounts of campaign cash into state parties during his presidential campaign, in March sent $18 million to the Democratic National Committee after exiting the race.
Additionally, he pledged $35 million to the consulting firm Hawkfish, which works with the DNC and outside groups to support Democrats.
In 2018, Bloomberg’s donations to key battleground districts gave relatively unknown Democrat challengers an overwhelming cash advantage over longtime GOP incumbents in often Trump-won districts.
Now though, Republican fundraisers say that while Bloomberg can infuse cash into these races again, the presidential election cycle and the freshmen Democrats’ voting records will lead to different results. That includes votes by endangered House Democrats on Trump’s impeachment, police reform, gun control, violent protests, and reopening the economy and public schools amid the coronavirus pandemic, among other issues.
“After spending nearly a half-billion dollars to get roundly rejected by voters, Bloomberg is back to try and buy another election. Bloomberg constantly brags about how he ‘bought’ all this years’ vulnerable Democrats in the 2018 midterms, so it’s hardly surprising he’d shell out big to keep his liberal puppets around,” Congressional Leadership Fund spokesman Calvin Moore told the Washington Examiner in a statement.
“Problem is, frontline Democrats have pushed so far left and become so radical, even a Bloomberg bailout probably won’t be enough to save them,” Moore added.
The National Republican Congressional Committee isn’t exactly trembling at the thought of Bloomberg money, considering his failed bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.
“We look forward to Democrats screaming bloody murder about the influence of outside money and politics” NRCC spokesman Mike McAdams said in a statement. “And if there’s anyone who knows that money doesn’t buy elections, it’s Michael Bloomberg [who] spent nearly $1 billion on Mac books and trash ads to lose the Democratic presidential primary in record time.”
Republican super PAC fundraising this past year includes targeting many of the districts Bloomberg is looking to protect.
The CLF began booking its second wave of broadcast and cable reservations for the fall, along with additional planned mail and digital advertising. This second wave is composed of $45 million in spending across 40 media markets.
The most recent round of reservations comes in addition to the $43 million booked in April and brings the CLF total commitment to almost $90 million. The latest ad reservations go across broadcast, cable, and digital platforms.
Additionally, the spending includes over $6 million for a ballot chase program to get out the vote as states across the country increasingly shift to vote-by-mail.
