MIAMI _ Untethered to the tight Democratic primary race in the looming Iowa caucuses, presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg is making a Florida visit this weekend that should inject some life into the swing state's listless Democratic primary.
The billionaire and former New York mayor is heading Sunday to Tampa and then Miami, where he is launching a national Jewish voter coalition. The trip is part of his strategy to win the primary by focusing on delegate-rich states with post-February contests, such as California, Texas and Florida. Florida's primary is March 17.
"We view Florida as a key battleground state," said Scott Kosanovich, the Bloomberg campaign's Florida state director, noting Florida's importance in the hunt to win the Democratic nomination and the November election. "Florida is a key state. We know Donald Trump has no pathway to be reelected that doesn't go through Florida."
According to his campaign, Bloomberg has two stops in Tampa on Sunday, including coffee with Mayor Jane Castor. Then he'll head to the Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center and Tauber Academy Social Hall in northern Miami-Dade County, followed by a stop in Wynwood.
During his Aventura stops, he plans to launch a national Jewish coalition, United for Mike. And in Wynwood, where he'll meet with campaign volunteers, he'll be joined by his Florida co-chairman, former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, and by former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, who is also expected to introduce Bloomberg in Aventura.
"He's a get-it-done guy," said Levine, a former gubernatorial candidate who believes the self-funded Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat Bloomberg is the best candidate to win the purple state of Florida and the 2020 election. "Progressives can win districts but centrists win states."
Kosanovich said the Florida visit will be "the first of many" for Bloomberg. The campaign is preparing to open 20 offices around the state, and expects to have 70 staffers in Florida starting next week.
"No other campaign is really building an infrastructure like this," Kosanovich said.
Bloomberg's visit to Florida comes as most his competitors are spending the bulk of their time campaigning in early primary states, leaving campaign volunteers, the Florida Democratic Party and Democratic National Committee to do much of the heavy lifting in a key battleground state that Trump has visited at least a half-dozen times since October.
Bloomberg, on the other hand, is building his Florida staff now and spending millions on TV commercials in the state.
He has said he might spend up to $2 billion on the 2020 presidential campaign, whether he wins the Democratic nomination or not.
