Michael Bloomberg is one of the biggest donors of the cycle. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images Elections Michael Bloomberg to cut $20 million check to Senate Democrats

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg will donate $20 million to the super PAC affiliated with Senate Democrats, two Bloomberg advisers said Tuesday, giving a major cash infusion to the party's quest to win the Senate in November.

Bloomberg adviser Kevin Sheekey told The Washington Post, which first reported the donation to the Senate Majority PAC, that Bloomberg was disappointed in Republican Senate leadership and believed Democrats would be mobilized to vote in the upcoming midterms by the uproar over sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.


The $20 million donation, which Bloomberg advisers Marc La Vorgna and Howard Wolfson confirmed to POLITICO, will help Democrats in a difficult battle to reclaim the Senate. Republicans hold a narrow 51-49 majority in the chamber. But Democratic senators are up for reelection in 10 states that President Donald Trump won in 2016 — putting the party on defense in much of the country and rendering it difficult for Democrats to retake the chamber, even in a favorable political climate.

“Mayor Bloomberg is a critical ally in our quest to win Senate races in every corner of the country,” J.B. Poersch, president of the Senate Majority PAC, said in a statement. “Mayor Bloomberg’s contribution is another indicator that Democrats have a real opportunity to take back the Senate.”

The announcement brings Bloomberg's spending on the 2018 elections up to $100 million, making him one of the biggest donors of the cycle. The former New York City mayor had previously announced plans to spend $80 million helping Democrats flip the House of Representatives.

Bloomberg is supporting Democrats this cycle but has donated to both Democrats and Republicans in the past. His current work to return the House to Democratic control, Bloomberg has said, is ultimately aimed at helping to usher in a new era of bipartisanship in Washington.

