Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will visit Annapolis on Tuesday, to discuss ways of reducing gun violence with state lawmakers and Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D).
According to an aide, Bloomberg will meet with seven lawmakers who have been active on the gun control issue — Sens. William C. Ferguson IV (D-Baltimore City), Paul G. Pinsky (D-Prince George’s), James C. Rosapepe (D-Prince George’s), and William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery), and Dels. Maggie L. McIntosh (D-Baltimore City), Kathleen M. Dumais (D-Montgomery) and Luke Clippinger (D-Baltimore City).
All hold leadership positions in the General Assembly.
Bloomberg will then meet separately with House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) and Frosh.
After a short media availability in the State House, he will travel to the Naval Academy where he is scheduled to deliver the Forrestal Lecture at the 2019 Naval Academy Leadership Conference.
Accompanying the former mayor will be Kevin Sheekey, a longtime key aide and corporate executive who was one of Bloomberg’s deputy mayors, and another former top aide, John Feinblatt, who is now president of Everytown for Gun Safety, an anti-gun violence group largely financed by Bloomberg.
The former three-term mayor of New York is a Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat. He is weighing a run for president in 2020 as a Democrat.
Bloomberg’s visit to Annapolis is part of a stepped-up political travel schedule.
A Politico story on Monday noted that Bloomberg “plays a dominant leadership role on two of the top issues on the minds of progressives heading into the 2020 cycle: climate change and gun control.
“He’s spent a decade as the nation’s preeminent financier on those issues, buying considerable goodwill in progressive circles. If he runs, those familiar with his thinking say, they’ll be the pillars of his campaign,” the article said.
One of the world’s richest men, Bloomberg is reported to have a net worth of more than $51 billion. He has given away billions of dollars to a long list of charitable and political causes and self-funded his mayoral campaigns. He recently donated $1.8 billion to Johns Hopkins University, his alma mater.
“I’ve devoted a lot of my life now to fighting gun violence,” Bloomberg said Thursday in Tulsa, Okla., at an event for Everytown for Gun Safety, according to Politico.
“When I left office, I knew that I couldn’t walk away from that responsibility … I’m going to devote my life to a job that has not been finished.”
Bloomberg’s trip to Annapolis follows word that another presidential contender, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), who entered the race Monday, plans to open her campaign headquarters in Baltimore.
“I think it’s terrific to have Democratic and Republican presidential candidates coming to Maryland,” said Rosapepe, part of the group of senators meeting with Bloomberg today. “I hope he’s going to be more FDR than Donald Trump.”
Bruce DePuyt
Reporter
Bruce DePuyt is a contributor to Maryland Matters, where he was a full-time reporter until December 2022. Previously, DePuyt spent nearly three decades on local television, including 14 years as producer and host of “NewsTalk” on NewsChannel 8 in the Washington, D.C., region. He was a reporter and anchor on “News 21” in Montgomery, where he also served as producer and host of “21 This Week.” He then became a reporter and anchor at NBC affiliate WVIR in Charlottesville, Va. He appears occasionally on WTOP (103.5 FM), WAMU (88.5 FM) and MPT.
Related Articles
Gov. Wes Moore signs more than 100 new bills into law a day after the 90-day 2024 legislative session ends. Former Gov. Robert Ehrlich (R) attends the event.
Bills aiding port workers and boosting the state’s struggling horse racing industry are among the last and most significant to pass on a Sine Day that was exceedingly busy — except during the solar eclipse.
House committee’s decision to amend a popular consumer protection bill puts its fate in doubt as Sine Die approaches.
Creative Commons Attribution