Michael Bloomberg is planning to be in Vermont next week for at least one campaign event, as the billionaire former New York City mayor visits Super Tuesday states in his bid to win the White House in 2020.
Bloomberg is expected to be in Burlington on Monday for an event that will be open to the public and the press, his Vermont campaign confirmed to VTDigger. However, the logistical details of the Democratic presidential candidate’s visit, including event location and time, have yet to be finalized.
WCAX first reported that Bloomberg would be traveling to Vermont.
Last week, the Bloomberg campaign formally set up shop in the state. R. Christopher Di Mezzo, the Vermont Democratic Party’s communications director, went on leave Friday in order to serve as Bloomberg’s state director through the March 3 primary.
Bloomberg did not enter the race until late in November, and will forgo the early contests in Iowa and New Hampshire. However, the billionaire has already spent more than $100 million on television ad buys since he entered the race and is now polling nationally, on average, ahead of candidates who have been on the campaign trail for much longer — including Pete Buttigieg, Andrew Yang, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and others.
While the location and the time for Bloomberg’s public event have yet to be finalized, as of Thursday afternoon multiple people had already contacted the Vermont Democratic Party for information about how they could attend, according to a party staffer.
Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., are the only other two Democratic presidential hopefuls who have campaigned in the state. Pete Buttigieg’s spouse, Chasten Buttigieg, also came to Vermont to campaign.
Three months after Sanders formally announced his 2020 presidential bid in Brooklyn, he held a rally in Montpelier in late May.
On Nov. 9, Biden attended a private fundraiser in Norwich, Vermont, just across the river from New Hampshire. This was Biden’s only event in the state.
