After an investment of nearly half a billion dollars, Michael Bloomberg has suspended his campaign for president. Bloomberg ignored the Iowa caucuses and early primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina to invested heavily in states whose primaries were held in the 14-state Super Tuesday contests on March 3. Some earlier polling had shown Bloomberg contending in several states, but his momentum faltered after he proved to be easily rattled in a pair of debate appearances.
The results on Tuesday night left Bloomberg with only a handful of delegates to show for his investment after he finished no better than third in any state. Axios is reporting that Bloomberg is suspending his campaign immediately. And CNN has a statement from Bloomberg in which he joins other former candidates in throwing his endorsement behind Tuesday night’s big winner, former Vice President Joe Biden.
The billionaire former New York City mayor entered the race after Biden’s poll numbers began to drop, saying that he thought that Biden’s campaign was weak, and that voters needed another more moderate candidate. But on Tuesday, it was Biden, not Bloomberg, who connected with voters—and polling shows that many of the voters who went to Biden considered themselves liberal. Said Bloomberg in endorsing Biden, “I’ve had the chance to work with Joe on those issues over the years, and Joe has fought for working people his whole life. Today I am glad to endorse him – and I will work to make him the next President of the United States.”