Michael Bloomberg donates $2 million for Black voter outreach

The donation will help to register voters in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin

Stephanie Guerilus

Mar 9, 2020

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 17: Michael Bloomberg prepares to speak at the Christian Cultural Center on November 17, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Reports indicate Bloomberg, the former New York mayor, is considering entering the crowded Democratic presidential primary race. (Photo by Yana Paskova/Getty Images)

Michael Bloomberg has donated $2 million to a nonprofit group that will register Black voters ahead of the November election.

CBS News reported Monday that the billionaire made the donation to Collective Future whose goals are to support Black candidates. They want to register 500,000 Black voters in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin. Bloomberg’s donation will help to hire field organizers.

“There is a critical need for Black voter engagement across the country in the 2020 election and beyond and we are deeply grateful to Mike Bloomberg for his partnership and dedication to this critical cause,” Quentin James, president of The Collective, said in a statement.

“His significant financial contribution will propel our work to historic levels and we are hopeful that this game-changing investment will be supported and replicated by those who embrace the need to advance the Black community.”

Bloomberg declared that he wanted to do his part. He stressed it needed to be easier for the Black community to do its civic duty. According to aides, this has been an investment six weeks in the making.

“Voter suppression efforts across the country have been a barely-disguised effort to keep Black Americans and other Democratic-leaning voters from the polls,” Bloomberg said in a statement. “I‘ve always believed we need to make it easier for all citizens to register and vote, not harder.”

Bloomberg’s contribution comes a week after he exited the presidential race. The former mayor of New York did not gain traction with Black voters. His controversial Stop and Frisk policy were heavily criticized as it led to the racial profiling of Black and Brown men.

Bloomberg apologized for the practice when he belatedly entered the presidential race last November. He was only able to win American Samoa on Super Tuesday. He quickly endorsed Joe Biden and reiterated his desire to defeat President Donald Trump.

“Staying in would make it more difficult to achieve that goal,” he said.