Bloomberg spent more than $100 on each of his Super Tuesday votes

(Image credit: MARK FELIX/AFP /AFP via Getty Images)

published 4 March 2020

Michael Bloomberg's expensive 2020 failure was actually a bargain, depending on how you look at it.

The former New York City mayor is now a former Democratic presidential candidate, dropping out after he failed to win a single state and more than a handful of delegates on Super Tuesday. The Washington Post has since evaluated how much Bloomberg spent for the votes he did get, and it's at least $130 each, at least when it comes to the states whose vote totals were completely reported by Wednesday afternoon.

Bloomberg funneled more than $500 million of his own money into his now-busted campaign, with a huge $15.4 million of that funding ads in Texas. Break that down by vote, and Bloomberg spent $170 on every person in Texas who cast a ballot for him. He spent even more, $220, on every one of his voters in Minnesota, and only narrowly beat Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) there despite the fact that she wasn't even running anymore.

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Even the $60 Bloomberg spent on each vote in Virginia seems like a lot when you consider it could've bought everyone a few dozen of the Big Gulps that Bloomberg despises so much. Food, shelter, and climate action are also viable alternatives. Then again, former Democratic candidate Tom Steyer spent about $1,850 for each of the 10,272 votes he got in New Hampshire, so Bloomberg can consider the inconsequential spending game a win.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.

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