Mike’s gift to DNC
National party gets $18M from prez campaign
WASHINGTON — Mike Bloomberg is transferring $18 million from his presidential campaign to the Democratic National Committee in the largest single such transfer ever.
It's the latest sign of his continued involvement in the race since ending his own campaign this month because of a lackluster showing in the March 3 primaries. In those Super Tuesday contests, the former New York City mayor won only one U.S. territory.
Bloomberg's contribution amounts to more than the national party's typical cash balance. The transfer will help make up for some of the steep fund-raising disadvantage when compared with its Republican counterpart, which routinely has raised tens of millions more than the Democratic organization throughout election cycles.
One of the world's wealthiest men with a net worth estimated to exceed $60 billion, Bloomberg promised throughout his campaign that he would help Democrats try to defeat President Trump regardless of how his own White House bid fared.
The Bloomberg campaign, which hired a staff of 2,400 people across 43 states, will also transfer its offices in six pivotal states to the Democratic parties in those states, to help accelerate their hiring and organizing. Those states are Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Former Bloomberg campaign staffers in those offices will continue to be paid by his campaign through the first week in April and have full benefits through the end of April. After that, they could, in theory, offer the state parties a trained and ready pool of potential hires to build out their operations heading into the November general election.
Bloomberg had promised staffers when they were hired that they would be paid through November, but earlier this month most of his campaign team was told they had been let go and would be paid only through the end of March.
DNC officials said Bloomberg's money and real estate transfers would be used to expand the party's 12-state battleground program, with a focus on hiring additional staffers to work in organizing and data operations. Bloomberg's former campaign employees will not have any advantage in the hiring process, officials said.
“Mayor Bloomberg and his team are making good on their commitment” to stay engaged through November, said DNC
Chairman Tom Perez in a statement. He added that the support will “help Democrats win up and down the ballot” and “help make sure Donald Trump is a one-term president.”
Bloomberg dropped out of the race March 4, the day after his Super Tuesday disappointment. Since then he has given tens of millions of his own money to various Democratic groups and causes.
In a memo to Perez announcing the transfer, the Bloomberg campaign said that while Trump's “mismanagement” of the coronavirus crisis should cost him, “we should also not assume that Trump's incompetence will be enough to make him a one-term President.”
Since exiting the race, Bloomberg has contributed $500,000 to Voto Latino to help register Latino voters, $2 million to the group Collective Future to help register African-American voters, and $2 million to Swing Left, a group focused on electing Democrats in swing districts.
Bloomberg's direct aid to the national party is possible only because he was a presidential candidate. Federal campaign finance laws place caps on how much an individual can give a political party committee. But individuals can loan or contribute as much of their personal money to their campaigns as they want. In turn, presidential campaigns can transfer unlimited sums to official party committees.