Bloomberg is spearheading this Gun Control issue:




  • NEW YORK
  • February 28, 2013, 12:03 a.m. ET

Billionaire Mayor Plays Bigger Role on National Stage



By MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL and JARED A. FAVOLE

Injecting millions of dollars into elections from coast to coast, billionaire New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is building on a large-scale effort that began last fall to expand his influence beyond his home turf.
His growing national profile was on display Wednesday when he visited the White House to talk to Vice President Joe Biden about new gun laws. The trip came one day after a Chicago congressional candidate backed by $2.5 million of Mr. Bloomberg's money came from behind and won a special Democratic primary for former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s seat.



Getty Images New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks Wednesday outside the White House after meeting with Vice President Joe Biden about gun laws.



"Is it a harbinger of what's to come?" Mr. Bloomberg asked on Wednesday of his influence on the Illinois election. "I think so."
A man who once publicly toyed with the idea of running for president, Mr. Bloomberg has now thrown himself into a separate effort to shape electoral politics far from New York and is pushing for pet issues in his last year in office.
The 71-year-old political independent is known for antismoking and gun-control efforts, but he has focused his attention on other topics, such as education, spending $1 million in a current bid to elect a slate of like-minded candidates to the Los Angeles Board of Education. He is also poised to announce Thursday that he is giving $100 million to an effort to eradicate polio.


Last October, he created Independence USA PAC, which has now spent more than $12 million to support candidates and ballot initiatives that favor same-sex marriage, in addition to gun control and education overhauls. Overall, Mr. Bloomberg was involved in a total of 60 contests nationwide last year, ranging from U.S. Senate races to the New Orleans school board; of these 60 races, the mayor was on the winning side in 43.
The financial-information mogul's money has swamped the airwaves and filled mailboxes with campaign advertising in far-flung places. In Illinois, the mayor's money bought four television ads and seven pieces of direct mail that helped ex-legislator Robin Kelly, a gun-control advocate, come from behind.
The election was scored a victory for Mr. Bloomberg, but it remains to be seen if he can be influential in moderate and conservative districts.
Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association, said the mayor was trying to "create a false sense of momentum."
Mr. Arulanandam said of the Illinois race: "What was an antigun seat from a blue state from a blue district remains the same." Still, he said, "We have billions of reasons to take Michael Bloomberg seriously, literally."
Rep. Peter King, a Long Island Republican and frequent ally of the mayor, said that Mr. Bloomberg's money would help counter the NRA's influence in the House.
Howard Wolfson, a New York deputy mayor, said Mr. Bloomberg "believes that it's important to level the playing field versus the NRA." Mr. Wolfson added, "He's obviously in a position to do so."
—Andrew Grossman contributed to this article. Write to Michael Howard Saul at michael.saul@wsj.com and Jared A. Favole at jared.favole@dowjones.com