Democratic presidential candidate former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg speaks during an event held at the Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center and Tauber Academy Social Hall on January 26, 2020 in Aventura, Florida. Image by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

By Aiden Pink January 29, 2020

It turns out $217 million can really get you far in politics.

Billionaire and former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg is rising in the polls, and is now in fourth place nationally – thanks in no small part to the hundreds of millions of dollars of his own money that he’s spent on advertising, far outstripping the rest of the Democratic primary field.

One result has been in Florida, where he’s in second place among Democratic primary voters with 17%, according to a St. Pete Polls survey.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Bloomberg has held several campaign events in Florida, including a speech in Miami about Israel and his Jewish identity last week. He is also the only candidate to have spent on advertising ahead of the March 17 primary, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.

Bloomberg still badly trails former Vice President Joe Biden, who has 41% in the Sunshine State — but the former mayor is still ahead of Sens. Bernie Sanders at 9% and Elizabeth Warren at 7%. The poll had a survey size of 2,590 and a 1.9% margin of error.

According to aggregators RealClearPolitics and FiveThirtyEight, Bloomberg has pulled ahead of former South Bend, Ind. mayor Pete Buttigieg for fourth place nationwide, with around 8% support.

Aiden Pink is the deputy news editor of the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @aidenpink

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount