Supporters of Mike Bloomberg, the multibillionaire former New York City mayor and Democratic presidential candidate, announced Monday that he will make a second campaign stop in Utah.
A location has yet to be set for the public appearance in Salt Lake City, set to begin 8 a.m. this Thursday, supporters said. Additional details and signup forms to attend will be available at the candidate’s website.
Bloomberg will return to the Beehive State just short of two weeks before Super Tuesday on March 3, when voters in 14 states including Utah will cast primary ballots. His strategy has been to focus on that election, while not campaigning in early voting states such as Iowa and New Hampshire.
At a Jan. 18 rally in Salt Lake City, the candidate said voters in Utah had been ignored by national Democrats, a trend he vowed to try to change. “We should not be writing off any state no matter how red people think it is,” Bloomberg told several hundred people gathered at Impact Hub.
In an interview, Bloomberg told The Salt Lake Tribune he hoped to draw votes from Democrats who stayed home in the 2016 election as well as moderate Republicans who may favor some of President Donald Trump’s policies but are reluctant to support him for a second White House term.
“The fact that he is visiting Utah a second time before Super Tuesday shows he is committed to Utah voters and to taking the fight straight to Donald Trump,” Bloomberg’s Utah campaign director Lauren Littlefield said in a statement.
The 77-year-old candidate, who opened Utah offices in January and has spent more than $1.6 million on political ads in Utah since November, is also seeking to qualify for a spot in Wednesday’s Democratic primary presidential debate, to held in Las Vegas. If he’s successful, it would be his first appearance in a presidential debate.
Bloomberg has drawn several endorsements from high-profile Utahns, most notably Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams. He is among a handful of Democratic hopefuls to visit Utah this election season.
Pete Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, held a town hall Monday evening at The Union Event Center at 235 N. 500 West in Salt Lake City.
Former Vice President Joe Biden held a fundraiser in Park City in September, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren hosted a campaign event in the state in April, among others.
