Michael Bloomberg’s philanthropic donations over the years have helped the billionaire Democratic presidential candidate secure allegiance from city and party leaders who might otherwise find parts of his record problematic if they were not dependent on his charitable giving.
Bloomberg’s philanthropy skyrocketed in 2019, ahead of the former New York City mayor declaring his candidacy for president. Bloomberg donated $3.3 billion last year, which was more than he gave the previous five years combined, according to a New York Times analysis of his charitable donations.
The donations fall in line with his personal interests, but they are also fused with his political fixations, including public health and safety, education, climate change, and culture and arts.
Bloomberg Philanthropies, his charity, has supported nearly 200 cities with grants and other assistance worth $350 million. Dozens of the charity’s employees have also joined his campaign and are now reaching out to mayors of the cities that received the grants for their backing of Bloomberg’s campaign.
More than 100 current and former mayors have endorsed Bloomberg, according to his campaign, some of whom attended the candidate’s leadership initiative at Harvard University and received millions in funding from Bloomberg over the years.
Mayor Svante Myrick of Ithaca, New York, said Bloomberg’s campaign reached out shortly after he announced his candidacy to ask for an endorsement. The city had previously received $100,000 in funding for a supervised injection facility. Myrick, who has yet to endorse a candidate, said it did not initially occur to him that Bloomberg’s charitable donations could be linked to the endorsements.
“Maybe I should be thinking about: If I endorse Bloomberg, Bloomberg Philanthropies will give us more money,” he said.
Mayor Greg Fischer of Louisville, Kentucky, has worked with Bloomberg’s team since 2011. Since then, his city has received $4.7 million in grants, and Fischer is now helping Bloomberg reach out to other cities strapped for financial resources. Louisville was one of five cities to receive funding from Bloomberg’s foundation for early childhood learning programs last year.
Bloomberg has used the grants to guide his campaign travel. One of his first campaign events was in Jackson, Mississippi, which received a $1 million grant as the winner of the foundation’s public art challenge and whose mayor attended Bloomberg’s Harvard program. He later visited Augusta, Georgia, to announce the endorsement of the city’s mayor, who also benefited from Bloomberg’s initiatives.
In Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who has participated in Bloomberg’s Harvard program, said she and her staff have worked to keep their ties to Bloomberg separate from political considerations.
“We view them as valued partners, but that’s got to be separate and apart from any presidential considerations,” she said.
Stu Loeser, a Bloomberg spokesman, said the billionaire businessman had made the donations “with no expectations of anything in return.”
