 MARCH 5 • 2020 | 13

MIKE BLOOMBERG 2020

continued on page 14

Mark tells a living room of Bloomberg pros-
pects, as they snack on crudité and white 
wine. 
Bloomberg is the candidate “
to represent 
our values and our issues, and the con-
nection and the friendship between Israel 
and America,
” Hannan Lis, Mark’
s Israeli-
American son-in-law, chimes in. “Mike 
Bloomberg is the only candidate we can 
ever consider.
”
Bloomberg, the former Democrat-
turned-Republican-turned-Independent-

turned-Democrat mayor of New York City 
and among the 10 richest people in the 
world according to Forbes, skipped early 
primary states to focus on Super Tuesday 
and delegate-rich states like Michigan to 
propel him to the top. He’
s outspending 
every candidate in the field, having used 
roughly $500 million of his own funds 
since entering the race late last year, all 
while advocating for stricter gun control 
and touting his business acumen to boost 
the American economy. 

Religion has played a somewhat nebulous 
role in Bloomberg’
s contemporary life, but 
he’
s drawing on his Jewish roots and his 
Zionism as his campaign comes to a head.
“I’
ve spent a lot of time in synagogues 
in my life, but my parents taught me that 
Judaism is more than just going to shul,
” 
Bloomberg told a crowd at the Aventura 
Turnberry Jewish Center in Miami, Florida, 
in January. “It is about living our values, 
including our obligation to help and to 
‘
repair the world’
 in the tradition of tikkun 

ANTHONY LANZILOTE

“He focuses on what he 
can do for others; he’s 
obviously not in it for 
himself.”

— STUART LOGAN ON MIKE BLOOMBERG

