‘He’s making the earliest investment.’ Bloomberg blankets Puerto Rico with TV ads
Michael Bloomberg’s TV blitz is going beyond the 50 U.S. states.
The former New York mayor and billionaire Democratic presidential candidate is running television ads in Puerto Rico ahead of the U.S. territory’s March 29 primary election, according to TV advertising contracts viewed by the Miami Herald. He’s the only presidential candidate running ads in Puerto Rico, according to two sources who track TV ad buying.
Bloomberg spent $201,200 on TV ads that appeared on Telemundo between January 20 and 24, according to Advertising Analytics, a firm that tracks TV spending by political candidates. And an analysis of TV spending by the ad tracker Medium Buying showed that Bloomberg spent $336,000 on broadcast television ads in the San Juan and Caguas markets from January 14 to January 24.
The spending matters because Puerto Rico has 51 Democratic delegates up for grabs in the primary, and Bloomberg is betting that focusing on states later in the primary process will help propel him to the Democratic nomination. Puerto Ricans can’t vote in the November general election but they can vote in primaries.
Last year, Puerto Rican Democrats moved their primary up to March from June. Hillary Clinton’s victory in the 2016 Puerto Rican primary came after the national race was largely decided.
“We moved it to Sunday, March 29, because if you look there’s very little the Tuesday before and very little the Tuesday after,” said Kenneth McClintock, a former Democratic National Committee member form Puerto Rico and former president of the Puerto Rican Senate. “We’re like in a vacuum where we should be able to attract candidates attention. In logistical terms, we’re not competing with too many other states for time.”
Bloomberg’s campaign did not provide details of any future advertising plans in Puerto Rico. Campaign spokesperson Alejandra Soto said in a statement that Bloomberg will campaign on his support for Puerto Rican statehood.
“Mike’s message to Puerto Ricans is that he sees their challenges as our nation’s challenges, a strong Puerto Rico strengthens America, and the time has come for Puerto Rico to have a full seat at the table with statehood and a vote in Congress,” Soto said in a statement.
McClintock said Bloomberg’s early advertising investment and his vocal support for statehood will help him win the primary. McClintock, a pro-statehood Democrat, hasn’t made an official endorsement, but is leaning toward Bloomberg after Bloomberg backed Puerto Rican statehood in newspaper columns in Puerto Rico and Florida this week.
“He’s making the earliest investment since our first primary in 1980 and is making what appears to be very strategic buys,’ McClintock said. “It’s been effective, a lot of people are talking about Mike Bloomberg, as a result of yesterday’s columns.”
Republicans in Puerto Rico have long held their primary in March, though none of the 2016 candidates bothered running TV ads because Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a statehood supporter, had so much support that rival campaigns spent resources in other states. Rubio won the 2016 primary with 70% of the vote, and kept his rivals below the 15% threshold required to win a share of the delegates.
Puerto Ricans on the island have taken notice of Bloomberg’s increased presence on local media, where he’s vowed to work toward Puerto Rico’s recovery and replaying now-iconic footage of Trump throwing rolls of paper towels in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
“In Puerto Rico, he’s the only candidate who’s done any kind of campaigning,” said Alberto Valentin, president of the Young Democrats of Puerto Rico, whose members are openly pro-statehood. “Obviously, he’s giving a little more love to Puerto Rico because, as opposed to the other candidates, he does need Puerto Rico.”
Late last year, former Vice President Joe Biden announced campaign chairs in Puerto Rico that represented the two largest political parties on the island: the Progressive New Party, which supports statehood, and the Popular Democratic Party, which supports the island’s current territorial status. His position on statehood is unclear.
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, a member of the PDP, is one of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign co-chairs and and has stumped for him on the campaign trail. Sanders supports efforts for Puerto Ricans to decide their statehood status through the ballot box, a position shared by most of the 2020 field.
But Valentin said Bloomberg’s support of statehood would set him apart both on the island and among Florida Puerto Ricans.
“This is a game changer in the sense that Biden is no longer going to be the favorite candidate of statehood supporters,” said Valentin. “It is much more likely that baby boomers will go out to vote in March than independents and young people. And a candidate who directly supports statehood, he’s going to have something that Sanders doesn’t have. Senators, representatives, mayors are going to want to campaign for him.”
Miami political consultant Frederick Vélez III, who is Puerto Rican, said it was surprising to see how thorough Bloomberg’s plan was. He pointed out that during the last Democratic debate on Jan. 14, in which Puerto Rico was never mentioned, Puerto Ricans on the island watched frequent Bloomberg ads between commercial breaks.
“During the last debate in Iowa, that’s all anyone was talking about,” said Vélez, who has been part of a coalition of groups running a “Show Us Your PR Policy” campaign. “He’s doing exactly what we’ve always been asking from campaigns.”
“The thing is that at the end of the day, there are very few people who participate in the Democratic primaries in Puerto Rico… He’s cutting into Biden’s people, the statehood supporters, the elderly,” he said.
Bloomberg has spent $220 million of his own money on TV ads since entering the presidential race in November, according to FiveThirtyEight. That total does not include spending in U.S. territories that participate in the presidential primary. He is in fourth place among Democratic hopefuls in recent national polling averages, trailing Biden, Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
And McClintock said Bloomberg’s Puerto Rico messaging can help his campaign outside the territory’s primary, particularly with Puerto Rican Democrats in Florida, where Biden maintains a lead in current polling.
“Probably in Central Florida, Joe Biden is losing a lot of the support,” McClintock said.
This story was originally published January 29, 2020 at 12:34 PM.
