Michael Bloomberg Is Wasting His Money Campaigning In Maine

I was recently surprised to read that Michael Bloomberg is prioritizing Maine as part of his presidential run, as it seems Maine voters would be among the last to support his candidacy.

For starters, Mainers don’t relate to billionaires. Maine only has one billionaire resident, compared to the 113 residing in Bloomberg’s New York. Our median household income is #36 in the nation, and I think most Mainers would agree that billionaires don’t understand their lives or what matters to them. This was certainly a factor in Bernie Sanders winning our primary in 2016, and Ted Cruz beating out Donald Trump in the Republican primary.

Beyond that, Bloomberg’s policies are the polar opposite of Maine’s. We’re the rare state that supports both gun rights and cannabis rights, with the legislature passing constitutional carry in 2015 and voters approving marijuana legalization in 2016. Restricting gun rights is one of Bloomberg’s top priorities, and he’s also said that legalizing marijuana is “perhaps the stupidest thing anybody has ever done.”

To top it all off, on Tuesday the Maine Secretary of State had to publish a notice that “a recent campaign mailing of Mike Bloomberg inaccurately suggests that any voter may participate in the Democratic primary. The primaries are closed in Maine.” It’s clear that the Bloomberg campaign didn’t even do basic research before jumping into Maine politics.

Bloomberg has no shot at winning the primary in Maine, and should stop wasting his money on ads in our state. Instead, he should dedicate any money earmarked for Maine towards defeating Susan Collins — a much higher priority than a billionaire’s vanity campaign.