Former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg, a Democratic megadonor, is swooping in to help his party retake the House majority, pouring more than $80 million into the midterms over the last two months and leaving the door open to giving more before Election Day, his adviser said.
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Bloomberg gave $16 million to the Democratic-aligned House Majority PAC. He also gave $24 million to Everytown for Gun Safety, a group he helped found more than a decade ago that is supporting House candidates across the country.
The billionaire also contributed $2.5 million to a super PAC supporting James Talarico, the Democratic Senate candidate in Texas — the only Senate race his money has gone to so far this cycle, said Howard Wolfson, Bloomberg’s political adviser.
Much of Bloomberg’s money is going toward the House with the goal of widening the possible margin of victory for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York), who is likely to become the House speaker if Democrats win it back, Wolfson said. Democrats need to net only three seats to win the House.
“There is a meaningful difference between a majority of, let’s say, 219 and 230, right?” Wolfson said.
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His spending so far, which has not yet been publicly disclosed, was first reported by the New York Times.
Bloomberg’s investments are a bright spot for Democrats, who are dramatically outpaced by Republicans when it comes to individual political donors.
Around the same time Bloomberg began his spending blitz, Elon Musk was becoming the biggest solo political donor in modern American history. He put $369 million into the midterms to support Republicans.
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