— With the 2020 primary election in North Carolina just two months away, the presidential campaign in the state is heating up.

Billionaire Democratic candidate Michael Bloomberg opened a campaign headquarters in Raleigh Friday and spoke at an afternoon event in Fayetteville.

He told supporters he joined the race to "restore compassion and common decency." He promised to unify the country and get things done.

That pledge resonated with Carol Hessenflow, an undecided Democrat who came to the event out of curiosity.

"On this – what he had to say – I would vote for him today," she said.

President Donald Trump's campaign responded to the event by calling Bloomberg an out-of-touch coastal elite.

"Michael Bloomberg believes he can buy his way into North Carolina and push the same radical policy ideas that plagued New York City during his tenure as mayor," Trump spokeswoman Samantha Cottten said in a statement.

The former New York City mayor was a late entry to the Democratic race. Bloomberg didn't even enter the contest until late November. He's skipping the early primary states and focusing on Super Tuesday states including North Carolina.

He is just the latest Democratic hopeful to visit North Carolina.

Bloomberg is planning to try to catch up with the front-runners by dropping hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising.

To put it in perspective, Bloomberg is spending more money on ads this week than any of his Democratic rivals raised over the past three months.

Some Democrats accuse Bloomberg of trying to buy the nomination, but student and supporter Maurice Smith says the future matters more to him than the past does.

"That he can do better in the future, and he can be there for everybody Is more important than focusing on what he’s done or what mistakes he has made," Smith said.

The 77-year-old has changed his party affiliation three times. He became a Republican to run successfully for mayor of New York City, then switched to independent a few years later and went back to being a Democrat in 2018.

He's been subject to criticism from African-American Democrats for his support for stop-and-frisk policing, as well as his defense of the prosecution of the Central Park 5, even after the courts ruled they were wrongfully convicted in a high-profile rape case.

Democratic voters will have a choice from among 15 candidates in the primary on March 3.

Who are all these people running for president?

There are five recognized political parties in North Carolina now, and the following candidates will be on their presidential primary ballots:

Constitution Party of North Carolina

Don Blankenship

Charles Kraut

North Carolina Democratic Party

Michael Bennet

Joseph F. Biden

Michael R. Bloomberg

Cory Booker

Pete Buttigieg

Julian Castro

John K. Delaney

Tulsi Gabbard

Amy Klobuchar

Deval Patrick

Bernie Sanders

Tom Steyer

Elizabeth Warren

Marianne Williamson

Andrew Yang

Green Party of North Carolina

Howie Hawkins

Libertarian Party of North Carolina

Max Abramson

Ken Armstrong

Dan Berhman

Kenneth Blevins

Souraya Faas

Erik Gerhardt

Jedidiah Hill

Jacob Hornberger

Jo Jorgenson

Adam Kokesh

John McAffee

James Orlando Ogle

Steve Richey

Kim Ruff

Vermin Supreme

Arvin Vohra

Republican Party of North Carolina

Donald J. Trump

Joe Walsh

Bill Weld