Billionaire Mike Bloomberg ends bid for Democratic presidential nomination, endorses Joe Biden

5 years ago

FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2019, file photo, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks at a news conference at a gun control advocacy event in Las Vegas. Tennessee’s top election officials say Bloomberg has requested a petition that would require securing 2,500 signatures from registered voters in less than a month if he wants to qualify for the state’s Democratic presidential primary ballot. The secretary of state’s office confirmed Wednesday, Nov. 13, that Bloomberg requested the ballot petition earlier this week. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Billionaire Mike Bloomberg has ended his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination and has endorsed Joe Biden.

It was a stunning collapse for the former New York City mayor, who had pinned his 2020 hopes on the Super Tuesday states and drained more than $500 million from his own fortune into his ultimately unsuccessful campaign.

Bloomberg announced his departure Wednesday after a disappointing finish on Super Tuesday in the slate of states that account for almost one-third of the total delegates available in the Democratic nominating contest. Some of his former Democratic rivals had coalesced around Biden as the moderate alternative to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.