Bloomberg Drops $80 Million to Help Expand Democrats’ Potential House Majority
The New York billionaire and former presidential candidate is spending big to boost Democratic candidates
Former presidential candidate and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is spending $80 million to help Democrats in the midterm elections. His contributions, handed out across September and October, make him one of the largest disclosed Democratic donors of this election cycle.
Bloomberg’s team told The New York Times that the billionaire is sending at least $50 million to House races, including $24 million through the group Everytown for Gun Safety, which he cofounded in 2013. He also gave at least $16 million to the House Majority PAC, a super PAC aligned with Democratic House leadership.
Retaking the House from Republicans has become all but a sure thing for Democrats amid the Trump administration’s plunge in popularity. The party’s fight to wrest back control of the Senate, however, remains up in the air.
This has led more donors to direct money toward critical Senate races for Democrats, including in states like Texas and Alaska. But Bloomberg’s team told The Times that he wants to help secure a meaningful Democratic majority in the House, not a slim majority of 218 seats.
“The difference between 221 and 230, in terms of the House majority, really matters,” Howard Wolfson, a political adviser to Bloomberg, told The Times.
Bloomberg ran for the Democratic presidential nomination during the 2020 election cycle. He has established himself as a significant Democratic donor in the past decade, as he previously spent at least $80 million to support Democrats.
His cash infusion into Democratic campaigns across the country could help bridge some of the large gaps in spending that have emerged between Republicans and Democrats. Republican megadonors, including President Donald Trump, have engaged in record amounts of outside spending to boost GOP candidates, hoping a cash advantage can help overcome an unfavorable political environment.
This week alone, Trump, a fellow New York billionaire, announced that he would spend $400 million to support his party’s candidates this election cycle through his political entities. $300 million of this money had already been sent, the president said.
