Bloomberg to visit Iowa ahead of possible 2020 run

Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York, will visit Iowa next week as he considers whether to seek the Democratic nomination for president in 2020.

Bloomberg, who has said he will decide whether to run by early next year, will host a panel discussion and a screening for his new climate change film, “Paris to Pittsburgh,” on Dec. 4 in Des Moines, the Des Moines Register reported Monday. 

{mosads}The trip will be Bloomberg’s first visit to Iowa in this election cycle. The state is home to the Iowa caucuses, which are the first major nominating contest in presidential primaries.

Bloomberg in October visited New Hampshire, which holds the second major nominating contest in the primaries.

The former New York mayor told the Associated Press earlier this month that he will decide whether to run by January or February.

“That’s when you really gotta sit down, talk to your advisers and say, ‘Look, do I have a chance?’ I think I know why I would want to run. I think I know what I think this country should do and what I would do. But I just don’t know whether it’s possible,” he said at the time. 

Bloomberg donated significantly during the midterm elections, giving tens of millions of dollars to Democrats and spending $5 million to air ads immediately before Election Day to boost Democrats.