Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is pumping around $15 million worth of television ads into Texas and Ohio supporting Democratic nominee Joe Biden days ahead of Election Day.
Starting this week, the self-made billionaire will utilize his super-PAC, Independence USA, to air intensive Biden messages statewide in both traditionally red states.
The ads will focus on the nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases under President Donald Trump, as Trump has lost popularity with crucial voting groups such as women and suburbanites. .
Texas and Ohio are states that Trump won by a wide margin last election. But both are states that the president has lost support in this campaign season, mainly attributed to his coronavirus response.
Despite Trump beating then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in Ohio in 2016, it has long been a swing state. On the other hand, Texas, which Trump won by a wide margin, is a state with a little more margin.
Democratic vice presidential nominee, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-California), is planning to visit Texas on Friday.
No Republican has ever won a presidential election without winning swing-state Ohio. And only two Democrats have ever won without notching Ohio – the 35th U.S. President John F. Kennedy and the 22nd U.S. President Grover Cleveland.
The Biden campaign has also furiously been pouring money and resources into the traditionally red battleground state of Florida, trying to secure it from Trump. In Florida alone, Bloomberg has pledged $100 million in support of Biden. The funding comes after Howard Wolfson, one of Bloomberg’s closest aides, had his team conduct polling for unexpected vulnerabilities that Trump might have, which could be exploited this campaign season.
On Monday morning, Bloomberg greenlighted the plan after the team determined that Texas and Ohio were their most fruitful targets. Both states, although red, boasted narrowly divided electoral representation and uncluttered airways ripe for political ads.
