Mike Bloomberg picks up endorsement from Wayne County Executive Warren Evans

Wayne County Executive Warren Evans is throwing his support behind billionaire businessman and Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg.

Evans announced his endorsement Thursday afternoon at The Manor at Whittier Park, Detroit. A longtime member of law enforcement, former Detroit police chief and former Detroit mayoral candidate, Evans has been in office since 2015.

The announcement comes on the tail of an endorsement from U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Rochester Hills, and increased campaigning in Michigan by the former New York mayor.

The presidential candidate — who was a Democrat before running for mayor as a Republican and later becoming an independent — was in Detroit hours before President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech last week.

He has been hiring several advisers well-known in political circles, spending big on TV ads in the state and last weekend opened new campaign offices in Ann Arbor, Bloomfield Hills, Flint and Warren.

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Evans and Stevens aren’t the first Michigan politicians to announce their choice of Democratic candidates for president.

Former Flint mayor Karen Weaver also has endorsed Bloomberg. Meanwhile, Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Detroit has campaigned for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Andy Levin of Bloomfield Township has supported Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan has endorsed former vice president Joe Biden.

Contact Darcie Moran at dmoran@gannett.com.