Report: Mike Bloomberg assembles massive Ohio campaign staff

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported recently that former New York Mayor and anti-gun rights billionaire Michael Bloomberg has unveiled a massive state campaign staff that includes some of Ohio’s most notable Democratic consultants and strategists.

From the article:

Bloomberg campaign state director Aaron Pickrell, who previously served in the same capacity for President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, said the staff and leadership team is composed mostly of Ohio natives, giving Bloomberg an organizing edge for the March 17 primary election.

“With only six weeks to go until the Ohio primary, we’ve built an incredible operation with a staff that knows this state better than anyone else and is focused on delivering a victory for Democrats in November,” Pickrell said in a statement.

According to the article, the announcement cited 91 paid staff on the ground in the Buckeye state, and noted that Bloomberg has invested heavily in Ohio and other Midwestern states.

Thus far, Bloomberg has spent $10.5 million on TV and radio advertising in Ohio, according to media tracker Advertising Analytics. His campaign has arguably the largest footprint in the state as well, with offices in Cleveland, Akron, Columbus, Cincinnati, Lima, Dayton, Toledo, Athens and Youngstown.

Whether that plan – skip the first four and focus on the Midwest – will pay off is still a big mystery. It’s an unorthodox strategy to say the least, but with a personal net worth of nearly $60 billion, Bloomberg has access to a larger war chest than any candidate in the race right now.

According to recent polling by Baldwin Wallace University, Bloomberg is polling at 10.1% of the Democratic vote in Ohio - enough for a statistical third place tie.

News of a 2015 speech by Bloomberg recently resurfaced, in which the anti-gun rights candidate suggested that male minorities aged 18-25 should have their gun rights stripped away from them, and also expressed his support for unconstitutional stop-and-frisk policies as a deterrent to gun violence. “Throw ‘em against the wall and frisk ’em,” Bloomberg is reported to have said.

There is no word yet on how that revelation may be reflected in opinion polls.

Chad D. Baus served as Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary from 2013-2019. He is co-founder of BFA-PAC, and served as its Vice Chairman for 15 years. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website, and is also an NRA-certified firearms instructor.