SALT LAKE CITY — Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg will be in Utah Saturday to hold a campaign event that’s open to the public.
Bloomberg, who already has been airing TV commercials in Utah, is scheduled to appear at Impact Hub Salt Lake City on State Street at 4 p.m. Those who want to attend the 1 1/2-hour event are asked to sign up online, at events.mikebloomberg.com.
The former New York City mayor is also expected to meet with community leaders during his brief stop in the state.
Utah is one of the states holding a presidential primary on Super Tuesday, March 3. Bloomberg’s strategy for winning the Democratic presidential nomination in a still-crowded field is to focus on Super Tuesday states, the first that follow the four early voting states, Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.
Other Democrats running for president have visited Utah, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who drew an overflow crowd for a public appearance at The Depot in April 2019, and former Vice President Joe Biden, who held a private fundraiser in Park City last September.
The Super Tuesday primary is a switch for Utah, which held party-run caucus votes in 2016 but still managed to attract nearly all of the major Republican and Democratic presidential candidates to the state, including now-President Donald Trump.
Utah Democratic Party Chairman Jeff Merchant predicted a strong showing for Bloomberg in the state’s primary because of the attention he’s paying to Utah voters. Utah was among the TV markets where Bloomberg spent more than $30 million last November to announce his entry into the race, and he’s still running ads.
“Mr. Bloomberg has already invested substantially in Utah, and I expect any candidate who chooses to invest in Utah will do well,” Merchant said. “We are excited to have many of the other candidates come to our state, share their vision with our voters, and help Democrats continue to build on our victories in 2018 and 2019.”
But Chris Karpowitz, co-director of Brigham Young University’s Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy, wasn’t so sure TV was enough to sell Utah voters on Bloomberg, especially in a Democratic primary election that includes more progressive candidates.
“Mike Bloomberg entered the race late and has not been part of the Democratic debates to this point, so he is likely looking for any way that he can make a splash on Super Tuesday. His strategy to this point has been to focus mostly on very large media buys,” Karpowitz said.
“Will he hold appeal for Utah Democrats? Perhaps some moderate voters, though they will also have other options in Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg,” he said. There are choices for more progressive voters, too, he noted. “In some ways, Bloomberg would be stronger in a general election in Utah than a Democratic primary.”