On Friday, The Hill released a new Hill-HarrisX poll that shows a major bump for 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and former mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg.
The poll, which was conducted on 431 self-identified Democrats and “left-leaning Independents” between December 27-28, asked respondents the following: “Who is your preference to become the Democratic nominee in the 2020 election for President?”
In first place is former Vice President Joe Biden with 28% of the vote. In second place is Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) with 16%. Tied for third place are Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bloomberg, each with 11%.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg sits in fourth place with just 6%, and rounding out the top six is “unsure” with 12%.
This news bodes well for Bloomberg. However, according to the RealClearPolitics national average, the former New York City mayor still trails the pack with just 5.8% support — within striking distance of fourth place Buttigieg’s 7.9% support, but far out of reach of Biden (29.4%), Sanders (19.4%), and Warren (14.8%).
Looking more deeply into the polling data, one can see where Bloomberg’s support lies.
Among the 18-34 age group, he has only 6% support, which rises to 11% among the 35-49 group. Among the 50-64 group, his support dips to 10%, then among 65+, his support explodes to 21%.
Bloomberg’s highest support comes from the “silent generation,” 32% of whom favor him. Tied again, 32% of the silent generation also support Warren.
Less than one month ago, Hill-HarrisX had Michael Bloomberg at 5% nationally among Democrats. That said, this new poll seems to be an outlier. In the seven most recent polls other than Hill-HarrisX featured on RealClearPolitics, Bloomberg averages just 5% support nationally.
Needless to say, the former mayor isn’t faring well in the early caucus/primary states either.
In Iowa, Bloomberg is in tenth place at 1.3%, trailing Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), businessman Andrew Yang, fellow billionaire Tom Steyer, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).
In New Hampshire, Bloomberg isn’t even on the board.
Polling in early states might not bother Bloomberg as his strategy is quite a bit different from the other Democratic contenders. According to NPR, as of December 27, the former mayor “spent more than $100 million on advertising” despite only having been in the race since November 24, 2019:
As a late entrant in the race, Bloomberg is bypassing campaigning in the first four primary states and is instead focused on marshaling his money into advertising. In recent weeks he’s been blanketing the airwaves, introducing himself to voters in essentially every TV market in the country.
The advertising seems to have worked in some capacity, ginning up at least 5% national support — and he has the means to spend even more. Forbes reports that Michael Bloomberg is worth an estimated $56.7 billion, making him the 14th richest person in the world, and the ninth richest in the United States.