Bloomberg casts a big shadow in Silver State race

CARSON CITY — With the Nevada caucuses less than a week away, Democratic presidential candidates campaigning were fixated on a rival who wasn’t contesting the state.

Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren and

Pete Buttigieg all went after billionaire Mike Bloomberg and made clear they were eager to take him on in a debate.

“He thinks he can buy this election,” Sanders said at a Carson City rally Sunday. “Well, I’ve got news for Mr. Bloomberg: The American people are sick and tired of billionaires buying elections!”

Sanders had a similar message Monday night as he rallied thousands of supporters at the Tacoma Dome in Washington state three weeks ahead of that state’s presidential primary.

“We are a democracy, not an oligarchy,” Sanders said. “You’re not going to buy this election.”

Bloomberg hit back Monday with a video mashup posted to Twitter of aggressive and threatening comments made by people who appear to be Sanders supporters, juxtaposed with Sanders calling for “civil discourse.”

“We need to unite to defeat Trump in November,” the former New York mayor tweeted. “This type of ‘energy’ is not going to get us there.”

The attacks are a sign of how seriously the field is taking Bloomberg as he gains in the race and is on the cusp of qualifying for Wednesday’s Democratic debate in Las Vegas.

Bloomberg has bypassed the traditional early voting states, including Nevada, focusing instead on the 14 states that vote in the Super Tuesday primary on March 3. He has spent more than $417 million of his multibillion-dollar fortune on advertising nationwide, an unprecedented sum for any candidate in a primary.

Meanwhile, Sanders is hoping to notch a victory in Nevada on Saturday.

Earlier on Monday, he spoke at a rally in Richmond, California, the biggest state voting on Super Tuesday.