Post by Admin on Jun 22, 2018 14:08:51 GMT -4
Bloomberg pledges $80M in midterm spending focused on flipping House
The former New York City mayor has split money between the parties in the past.
Billionaire Michael Bloomberg will spend at least $80 million on political campaigns this year, aiming to help Democrats retake the House of Representatives, the former New York City mayor announced on Wednesday.
Bloomberg, who has supported both Republicans and Democrats in the past, laid out few specifics about his plans but was clear about his overall goal: to return the House to Democratic hands and promote an air of bipartisanship that has gone missing in Washington. Bloomberg’s plans were first reported by The New York Times. Howard Wolfson, a Bloomberg advisor and former executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, will oversee the new effort.
In a statement, Bloomberg emphasized his independent background and his past support for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.). Bloomberg's big-money support for politicians in both parties has made him unusual among major donors in the past. But in a statement, Bloomberg blamed Republicans in Congress for not doing enough to craft bipartisan compromise while they control both chambers.
“Republicans, who control both houses of Congress, have done little to reach across the aisle to craft bipartisan solutions – not only on guns and climate change, but also on jobs, immigration, health care, and infrastructure,” Bloomberg said in the statement. “As a result, Congress has accomplished very little.”
“I believe that ‘We the People’ cannot afford to elect another Congress that lacks the courage to reach across the aisle and the independence to assert its constitutional authority. And so I will support Democratic candidates who are committed to doing both,” Bloomberg said.