(Bloomberg) -- A combative Michael Bloomberg said that he doesn’t know if he’ll win any states on Super Tuesday -- the first time he’ll be on the ballot -- and acknowledged that the only way he can secure the
Democratic nomination is through a contested convention.But the former
New York City mayor brushed off questions Tuesday about whether he would drop out of the race to avoid splitting the moderate vote.Bloomberg said he expects no candidate will end up with the majority of pledged delegates needed to win the nomination on the first ballot at the party’s convention in July, giving him an opportunity to still become the nominee even with fewer delegates than other candidates.“I don’t think that I can win any other ways, but a contested convention is a democratic process,” he said when asked by reporters during a stop at a campaign office in Miami whether he wants a contested convention. “There are rules of the Democratic Party of how you go about this.”Bloomberg brushed off the notion that his campaign was taking votes from
Joe Biden, saying that the former vice president could be seen as taking votes away from him.“Joe’s taking votes away from me,” he said. “Have you asked Joe whether he’s going to drop out?”Of the 14 states voting on Tuesday, Bloomberg is ahead in the polls only in Arkansas and above the 15% threshold to earn delegates in Oklahoma, North Carolina and Virginia.He said that he wasn’t sure if he would win any states on Super Tuesday, which his campaign heavily targeted with hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising and early organizing. But he argued that doesn’t matter.“You don’t have to win states; you have to win delegates,” he said.Bloomberg repeated his criticism of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders that the self-described democratic socialist can’t win and said he finds it “offensive” that Sanders supported a brokered convention in 2016 when
Hillary Clinton had the delegate lead and is opposing that outcome this year.He argued that he’s the only Democrat who can attract the moderate
Republicans and independents needed to beat President
Donald Trump in November.“I think people should vote for me, and I’m in it to win it,” he said.Bloomberg is spending Super Tuesday – his 100th day in the race -- campaigning in Florida, which holds its primary March 17\--With assistance from Ryan Teague Beckwith.To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Niquette in Miami,
Florida at mniquette@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Magan Crane, Kevin WhitelawFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.