Bloomberg abandons presidential bid as Biden surge reshapes Democratic race

LOS ANGELES: Billionaire former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg ended his US presidential campaign on Wednesday (Mar 5) and endorsed new Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, whose campaign for the White House streaked ahead with a string of electoral victories on Super Tuesday.

In another move that could reshape the race to find the Democrat who will face Republican President Donald Trump in the Nov 3 election, candidate Elizabeth Warren is “talking to her team to assess the path forward”, a campaign aide said. 

The liberal US senator from Massachusetts, who was seeking to become America’s first female president, had disappointing results across the board on Tuesday.

The Democrats’ campaign is now looking like a two-horse race between former Vice President Biden and leftist Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Bloomberg dropped out after lavish spending on campaign ads across the United States failed to deliver convincing results on Tuesday, the biggest day of voting in the Democratic nomination campaign, with contests in 14 states.

“A viable path to the nomination no longer exists,” Bloomberg, 78, said in a statement. Endorsing Biden, Bloomberg said: “I will work to make him the next president of the United States.” Bloomberg did not say whether he would spend part of his fortune to help Biden, until now his Democratic rival.

A resurgent Biden, 77, rolled to victories across the South, Midwest and New England on Tuesday, setting up a one-on-one battle against Sanders, who won three states and led in California.

Biden, whose campaign was on life support just weeks ago, won nine of 14 states voting on Super Tuesday, including surprise victories in Texas and Massachusetts.

US stocks jumped more than 2 per cent moments after the market opened on Wednesday as investors cheered Biden’s good night. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 466.27 points, or 1.8 per cent.