Michael Bloomberg Gives Joe Biden Campaign $115M, Odds Focus on Battleground States

Posted on: October 28, 2020, 09:25h. 

Last updated on: October 28, 2020, 11:36h.

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg is funding Joe Biden’s final 2020 campaign push to oust President Donald Trump from the White House.

Michael Bloomberg 2020 odds Biden Trump
Michael Bloomberg is approaching $1 billion in spending to put a Democrat in the White House next year. (Image: NY1)

Bloomberg spent more than $500 million on his own short-lived 2020 presidential campaign. Worth an estimated $55 billion, Bloomberg is once again opening up his deep pockets in hopes of winning over voters to the Democratic ticket.

Bloomberg announced last month that he’s spending $100 million on pro-Biden ads in Florida through his super PAC, Independence USA. He gave another $15 million this week for campaign spots in Ohio and Texas.

We believe that Florida will go down to the wire, and we were looking for additional opportunities to expand the map,” Bloomberg aide Howard Wolfson told The New York Time. “Texas and Ohio present the best opportunities to do that, in our view.”

PredictIt has Biden’s shares of winning the November 3 election trading at 63 cents. Trump is at 41 cents.

Swing States in Full Swing

A week from today, we could know who will lead the country for the next four years.

Some 73.2 million Americans have already cast their pick by either mail-in ballot, absentee, or early in-person voting. Nearly seven million votes in Florida have been cast, more than eight million in Texas, and 2.3 million in Ohio.

But next Tuesday, November 3 remains the day the vast majority of the votes will be cast. And Bloomberg is betting that his fortune will help sway some of the undecided to Biden’s side.

PredictIt has Trump winning Florida, the President’s shares trading at 61 cents. The betting exchange also has Trump favored in Texas, his shares at 73 cents, and in Ohio, his shares at 71 cents.

Trump won Florida, Texas, and Ohio in 2016. All three states are critical to his reelection odds. Trump and Biden are both trying to rally their supporters.

“We are spending more in Florida, and we are winning big in Florida,” Trump tweeted yesterday. “Actually, we are winning big in many states, as the Great Red Wave begins to form!”

“No President whose lies and failures have cost 225,000 American lives should keep his job. Period,” Biden said in his own tweet. “It’s go-time, folks. We’re just one week away from the most important election of our lifetimes.”

Polls Suggest Close Races

The pollsters believe Florida, Texas, and Ohio are closer than the betting markets.

The Real Clear Politics polling average in Florida has Trump with just an 0.4-point lead. In Texas, the President is up 2.6 points, and in Ohio, 0.6 points. Polls regarding the general election between Trump and Biden gives the challenger a 7.1-point lead. However, that’s down a full point from a week ago.

Another key state is Pennsylvania, which Trump flipped red in 2016. The first time the Commonwealth picked a Republican presidential candidate since 1988.

PredictIt has Biden favored in Pennsylvania, his shares at 58 cents. The RCP polling average has Biden 3.8 points ahead.