New York Mayor Bloomberg Endorses Bill Daley For Governor

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jul 3, 2013 1:40PM

Bill Daley received a major league endorsement in his bid for Illinois Governor Tuesday. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg released a video calling Daley “uniquely qualified” for the job and supported Daley’s tough position on gun restrictions, including background checks for all gun buyers, a ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines and local regulation of guns. Watch the video below.

The video was released shortly before Gov. Pat Quinn used his amendatory veto powers to rewrite concealed carry legislation that will likely be overridden by the Illinois Legislature. Daley has spent much time painting Quinn and possible Democratic gubernatorial candidate Lisa Madigan was ineffective executives and the timing of the Bloomberg endorsement video served to take some focus away from Quinn's press conference announcing the concealed carry bill rewrite and send notice to Madigan that Daley will be capable of raising campaign funds for a primary battle.

Daley has raised $800,000 since he announced his campaign last month but, as Capitol Fax's Rich Miller notes, politicians like Daley tend to do well in initial fundraising through friends and family. Having Bloomberg's endorsement means having access to his Independence USA SuperPAC and other well-heeled donors.

This isn't the first Illinois political campaign Bloomberg has interjected himself into. New Second Congressional District Rep. Robin Kelly's campaign to replace Jesse Jackson Jr. benefited from $2.2 million in campaign donations from Bloomber's SuperPAC. The money was used to attack former congresswoman Debbie Halvorson's record on gun control.