Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has stepped up for Vice President Kamala Harris. He became her second-largest individual donor after George Soros with a whopping $50 million donation to her campaign’s main super PAC.
This donation follows nearly $20 million he gave to support President Biden's re-election. Yet, Bloomberg held back when Harris took Biden's place on the Democratic ticket. Under pressure from fellow billionaires, he finally decided to support her campaign, according to The New York Times.
The $50 million donation went to Future Forward USA Action. This is the main dark money super PAC backing Harris. Before she was on the ticket, it supported Biden.
Bloomberg’s recent donation comes on the heels of another $50 million contribution from Bill Gates to Future Forward. High-profile Democratic donors like Gates, Reid Hoffman, and Ron Conway had been urging Bloomberg to support Harris. Sources noted he even spoke with Harris recently.
Michael Smith, president of House Majority PAC, defended Bloomberg’s late donation. He called it a "deliberate" and "sophisticated" move. "There should be no expectation that any individual donor is just going to give to you," he said. "Mike’s not giving money to anyone just to give money."
In contrast, Quentin James, founder of Collective PAC, strongly disagrees with this strategy. He believes that "time, not late money, is always our best weapon."
Before this donation, Bloomberg had contributed about $47 million this election cycle. This included nearly $20 million to Biden when he was still running and $10 million to support House Democrats.
Despite this significant amount, Bloomberg has been hesitant to donate more to Future Forward. He cited the vice president's successful fundraising efforts as a reason. Instead, he prefers focusing his funds on ballot initiatives. Recently, he donated $2.5 million to oppose a Massachusetts measure to eliminate standardized testing for high school graduates.
Bloomberg’s contributions this cycle are much less than in 2020. He spent a record $173 million then, including $100 million just to help Biden win Florida. This current cycle, Bloomberg's spending is down by $126 million compared to his 2020 contributions.