Bloomberg Campaign Transfers $18 Million to DNC

Billionaire Mike Bloomberg will transfer $18 million to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) instead of creating his own independent entity as an effort to defeat President Trump in November.

“While we considered creating our own independent entity to support the nominee and hold the President accountable, this race is too important to have many competing groups with good intentions but that are not coordinated and united in strategy and execution,” Bloomberg said in a memo to DNC Chairman Tom Perez. “We therefore believe the best thing we can all do over the next eight months is to help the group that matters most in this fight: the Democratic National Committee.”

In the memo, the transfer will go directly to the DNC’s Battleground Build-Up 2020 to “dramatically expand” efforts in helping Democrats win up and down the ballot. In addition to the money transfer, Bloomberg will also also transfer several of its former field offices to state parties in six key battleground states: Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

“We hope this investment will dramatically expand the DNC’s Battleground Build-Up 2020 efforts across battleground states, drawing in part from our own incredibly experienced and talented organizing staff,” Bloomberg said. “Mike Bloomberg 2020 will also transfer several of its former field offices to state parties and help accelerate the hiring pace for important positions in organizing, data, and operations across key battleground states.”

The former NYC Mayor launched his presidential bid last November. He dropped out four months later in early March after a disastrous Super Tuesday, failing to win one of the 14 states competing and pouring more than $500 million of his own money. After bowing out, Bloomberg endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden after he swept nine of the 14 contest, including the rich delegate state of Texas.

Bloomberg vowed during his run in January to spend up to a billion dollar of his own money and mobilize his operation behind any of the Democratic candidates that would become the party nominee. The campaign has dozens of field offices still open through November in states expected to be competitive in the general election. Now, the ownership of those offices will be transferred to the Democratic state parties, where the DNC said it would hire its own organizers using the $18 million given from Bloomberg.

“As Mike said throughout the campaign, he would support whomever the eventual Democratic nominee is, as well as Democrats in key races that we must elect to help undo the damage President Trump has done in office. While our campaign has ended, Mike’s number one objective this year remains defeating Trump and helping Democrats win in November,” Bloomberg said.

“The dynamics of the race have also fundamentally changed, and it is critically important that we all do everything we can to support our eventual nominee and scale the Democratic Party’s general election efforts,” Bloomberg added.

Perez said in a statement that the transfer from the Bloomberg campaign show the former mayor is “making good on their commitment to beating Donald Trump.”

“This will help us invest in more organizers across the country to elect the next president and help Democrats win up and down the ballot,” he said.

Biden’s campaign praised Bloomberg’s contribution to the party and called it an “extraordinary investment.”

“The Democratic Party stands united and fully committed to defeating the most dangerous president in modern history, and we welcome the announcement of Mayor Bloomberg’s extraordinary investment to ensure that happens,” Kate Bedingfield, the communications director for the Biden campaign said. “We need to compete with the war chest that Donald Trump, the RNC, and their right-wing allies have amassed, and this will go a long way in ensuring that we can fund the grassroots efforts in key battleground states that will be necessary to win this November.”

The $18 million donation from Bloomberg is $6 million more than the DNC raised in February and double the amount the national party raised in January.