Michael Bloomberg will be on the debate stage Wednesday night in Las Vegas, and he made it just under the wire.
The former New York City mayor and 2020 presidential candidate qualified for the Nevada Democratic presidential primary debate at the last minute, notching 19 percent support in a Marist, Newshour and NPR/PBS poll, the fourth national poll to put him above the 10 percent mark since Jan. 15. That means the billionaire, who has spent more than $400 million of his fortune on advertising, meets the polling threshold set by the DNC for the debate.
Bloomberg will be on the debate stage, his campaign confirmed in a statement.
🚨🚨🚨 NEWS: @MikeBloomberg qualifies for Nevada debate, hits 19% in latest national poll: https://t.co/mL8zKbPaVm
— Galia Slayen (@gslayen) February 18, 2020
“Our campaign is seeing a groundswell of support across the country, and qualifying for the February 19 debate is the latest sign that Mike’s plan and ability to defeat Donald Trump is resonating with more and more Americans,” campaign manager Kevin Sheekey said Tuesday morning. “Mike is looking forward to joining the other Democratic candidates on stage and making the case for why he’s the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump and unite the country. The opportunity to discuss his workable and achievable plans for the challenges facing this country is an important part of the campaign process.”
Bloomberg is skipping the first four primary states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — to focus on saturating Super Tuesday states with ads and to campaign in the 14 states that will vote on that day while other candidates are grinding it out in the early states. This strategy has allowed him to pass other candidates in national polls despite their strong showings in Iowa and New Hampshire. – READ MORE
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