Super Tuesday Fallout: Mike Bloomberg Drops Out, Endorses Joe Biden

In contradiction to his advertising, Mike will, apparently, not get it done. The bright spot for former New York Mayor City Mike Bloomberg’s big $700 million spending spree is the consolation prize of winning the American Samoa Democratic Caucus, which may come as a surprise to practically everyone. Who knew Bloomberg had such a strong pocket of support in the South Pacific?

Related: Super Tuesday 2020 Voting Results

The dust is still settling from the large round of Super Tuesday voting last night, but the narrative this morning is that former vice president Joe Biden had a much bigger night than expected, including winning Texas, and Sen. Bernie Sanders fell short of sweeping anything outside of his home state and the west coast contests in Utah, Colorado, and delegate-rich California. When all is said and done, Biden will have won the most states, but Bernie will still be leading the delegate count, most likely, due to his haul from the Golden State.

Super Tuesday Victories

Biden: Alabama, Arkansas, Maine, Massachusets, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tenessee, Texas, Virginia

Sanders: California, Colorado, Utah, Vermont

Bloomberg: American Samoa

Bloomberg, after failing to win any major state or make any considerable inroads with his blitz of ad spending, is out:

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who jumped into the 2020 election in late November, has ended his presidential bid, according to his campaign.

In a statement Wednesday, Bloomberg said staying in the race would make it more difficult for Democrats to defeat President Donald Trump.

“I’m a believer in using data to inform decisions. After yesterday’s results, the delegate math has become virtually impossible – and a viable path to the nomination no longer exists,” Bloomberg’s statement read. “But I remain clear-eyed about my overriding objective: victory in November. Not for me, but for our country. And so while I will not be the nominee, I will not walk away from the most important political fight of my life.”

Bloomberg said he is putting his support behind former Vice President Joe Biden, who won the majority of the states on Super Tuesday and reclaimed his frontrunner status.

The only remaining straggler in the race is Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and reports indicate she is currently considering her options and “talking to her team to assess the path forward.” That kind of political lingo is code for deciding which candidate will help her more in the end with some kind of administration job and/or eliminating her campaign debt if she has any. She’ll drop out soon, but not before getting her political ducks in a row.

The notable point here is that Bloomberg isn’t taking his money and going home, he’s pledging to support Biden in the Fall. With a campaign struggling for cash before his South Carolina win, Biden needs money and donors, so Bloomberg couldn’t be swooping in at a better time.

If Elizabeth Warren does decide to pull the plug today or sometime this week, the primary becomes a two-man battle for a race to get as close as possible to the magic number of 1,991 delegates needed to clinch the nomination on the first round.

If Sanders and Biden continue splitting victories, the chances that neither one hits the threshold becomes more and more likely.

We will stay updated with the state of the race as the dust settles from Tuesday’s voting and the race becomes a tit-for-tat battle for delegates until June.

Check the 2020 Primary Schedule for what’s ahead.

The next Democratic debate is scheduled for March 15, 2020.


Nate Ashworth

The Founder and Editor-In-Chief of Election Central. He's been blogging elections and politics for over a decade. He started covering the 2008 Presidential Election which turned into a full-time political blog in 2012 and 2016 that continues today.

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