The former NYC mayor is pursuing a different path to the White House than other candidates — and spending big.
ADVERTISEMENTBillionaire former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg has jumped into fourth place in the Democratic primary contest with nine percent support among Democrats nationwide, a new poll Wednesday shows.
The top contenders remain unchanged, according to the Monmouth University survey: former Vice President Joe Biden was the choice of 30 percent of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders had 23 percent and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren came in with 14 percent.
Bloomberg is trailed by former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg with six percent and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar at 5 percent.
While the rest of the Democratic primary field jockeys for votes in Iowa and New Hampshire and fundraises to make the debate stage, Bloomberg is forgoing the usual path to the nomination. He's skipping the early-voting states, turning his attention and money to campaigning in Super Tuesday states on March 3, staffing up and advertising aggressively.
Bloomberg has more than800 staffers on his payroll and over $100 million spent on advertising.
The Monmouth survey suggests voters may be OK with Bloomberg's non-traditional ploy: a majority of Democrats, 56 percent, said voters in early states like Iowa and New Hampshire have too much influence on who wins the party's nomination for president.
The poll also showed growing support for an alternative to President Donald Trump in 2020: 57 percent of all registered voters in the survey said that someone new should be elected in 2020.