Michael Bloomberg announced Wednesday he had re-registered as a Democrat.
In a post on Instagram and shared to his Twitter early Wednesday morning, the New York Democrat warned against "those who threaten our Constitution," and the need for "Democrats to provide the checks and balance our nation so badly needs." The announcement came weeks before the November midterm elections and after months of speculation about a potential 2020 Bloomberg presidential run.
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Bloomberg is the founder of Bloomberg L.P. and former mayor of New York. He switched to the Republican party before winning his first two terms, and won his third term as an independent.
Bloomberg, who has a net worth of some $50 billion, plans to spend some $80 million supporting Democrats in the November midterm election, Reuters reported in June.
Calling House Republican leaders "absolutely feckless," Bloomberg seeks to flip control of the government to the Democrats.
Bloomberg joins fellow billionaires Tom Steyer and George Soros in heavily backing Democrat candidates and causes. Bloomberg founded the gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety in 2014. Bloomberg spent over $65 million in the 2016 elections, in large part towards PAC efforts for gun control.
Bloomberg is widely considered a centrist candidate, in large part because of his fiscally conservative views and hawkish foreign policy. On major domestic issues, like same sex marriage and abortion, however, Bloomberg swerves to the left. "Reproductive choice is a fundamental human right, and we can never take it for granted," he has said. "On this issue, you’re either with us or against us." He spoke at the Democratic National Convention in support of Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign.
Unlike Steyer and Soros, Bloomberg has publicly distanced himself from Trump impeachment efforts. "To be clear: I have plenty of disagreements with some Democrats," he wrote in an op-ed, "especially those who seek to make this election about impeachment. Nothing could be more irresponsible."
Bloomberg has not ruled out running directly against Trump in 2020, and acknowledged the possibility in April.
Last June, Bloomberg predicted Trump was likely to win reelection. He also thought that if the economy remained strong, Trump’s odds would only improve. The Labor Department reported Friday that the U.S. unemployment rate had fallen to 3.7 percent in September, the lowest since 1969.