Draft Bloomberg movement

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The Draft Bloomberg movement was a U.S. effort started in 2007 to persuade New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to run for president as an independent in 2008. The effort ended on February 28, 2008, when Bloomberg announced he would not run.

The movement relaunched in late 2010 to push Bloomberg to run for president in 2012 or to help build a strong third party.

Eight years later, Bloomberg did enter the 2020 Democratic primaries. He did not win the nomination, carrying only American Samoa and failing to reach the 15% threshold for delegates in several states.

In January 2008, the Independent Greens of Virginia launched the first state petition drive to put Bloomberg on the Virginia ballot. They gathered signatures and submitted them to the Virginia State Board of Elections, but Bloomberg asked to remove his name a day before the deadline, so he did not appear on the Virginia ballot.

There were talks of drafting Bloomberg to run on the Unity08 ticket. On January 10, 2008, Unity08 co-founders Doug Bailey and Gerald Rafshoon announced they were leaving Unity08 to start a national draft movement for Bloomberg.

Support came from independent voters unhappy with the two major parties. Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, and entrepreneur Mark Cuban acknowledged the movement on their blogs and offered favorable comments.

In October 2010, The Committee to Draft Michael Bloomberg announced a relaunch to try to unite independents, the Independence Party of America, and Greens to form a viable third party. Polls at the time showed 58% of Americans wanting a third major party, and Bloomberg stated he did not plan to seek the presidency in 2012.