Bloomberg pumps another $10 million into House campaigns as red wave looms

Bloomberg has played a less visible role on the national political stage this cycle after unsuccessfully running for president in 2020. But La Vorgna said he was heavily invested in maintaining Democratic control of Congress, having helped to overthrow the House in 2018.

Democrats now face a much more toxic climate, with key committees and campaign arms of the party sorting out their resources to protect vulnerable incumbents. The latest inflow, which brings Bloomberg’s contribution to House Democrats to $21 million, is unaffected and can be spent in districts where party leaders are desperately trying to hang on.

It’s part of a broader new strategy by one of the world’s richest men to spread his dollars in battlefield races further into the midterm ballot to avoid threats from Republicans. So far, he has contributed between $500,000 and $2 million each to gubernatorial campaigns in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Colorado, New Mexico and Wisconsin, as well as an additional $2 million to secretaries of State Democrats.

The $10 million donation to the House Majority PAC brings its contributions to party candidates and cycle causes to more than $70 million.

Although few of Bloomberg’s house expenses have been made public so far, two people familiar with the expenses said he was directing the money to the representatives. Josh Gottheimer and Mikie Sherrill from New Jersey. Both are Democrats he has backed in previous contests and both battleground seats have been competitive in the past, though they are bluer thanks to redistricting. House Majority PAC this week made a $2.3 million purchase for Gottheimer and VoteVets, a Democratic group that works in tandem with the House Majority PAC, made a $2 million purchase for Sherrill, according to AdImpact, a company media monitoring.

But neither incumbent is locked in a particularly competitive race — President Joe Biden has carried both districts by double-digit margins — and both are loaded with money. Sherrill had $3.4 million to his opponent’s $279,000 in the latest campaign finance reports. Gottheimer ended September with $14 million in the bank; his opponent had less than $172,000. Gottheimer, a prolific fundraiser, ended the third quarter with more cash in hand than nearly every other House member except Representatives. Katie Porter (D-California) and Adam Schiff (D-California).

However, the vast majority of Bloomberg’s dollars will likely be doled out to House Democrats’ most pressing needs, as determined by party leaders. And they’re coming on Biden’s heels this week by directing an additional $10 million from his political apparatus to the Democratic campaign arms of the House and Senate.

Pelosi – who has raised hundreds of millions on her own this round – expressed her gratitude to Bloomberg in a statement, saying he was “a key resource as Democrats work to advance job creation, ensure public safety, protecting women’s right to choose, defending Medicare and Social Security, and reducing prescription drug costs. Be p. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said Bloomberg’s contributions would allow Democrats to « finish strong on the straight. »

Bloomberg advisers, 80, expect him to once again become one of the biggest – if not the biggest – donor to Democrats. In 2020, he spent over $1 billion on his presidential campaign which lasted just over four months. The previous cycle, when House Democrats took over the House, the party won all but three of the roughly two dozen House races that Bloomberg sought to sway with its money — accounting for nearly $60 million over the more than $110 million he spent on Democrats that year. .