Bloomberg decides to skip Nevada caucuses

Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg failed to make the Jan. 1 deadline to appear on the ballot for the Nevada caucuses later this year, the state party announced Thursday.  

His failure to register will ensure he’s not among the candidates that Nevada voters will choose from at the state’s nominating contest on Feb. 22. 

Bloomberg was expected to skip Nevada, along with the three early voting states, and focus instead on Super Tuesday, set to take place on March 3.

A Bloomberg spokeswoman defended the campaign’s decision to opt out of the Nevada caucuses.

“We are confident we can win in states voting on Super Tuesday and beyond, where we will start on an even footing. But the late timing of our entry means that many candidates already have a big head start in the four early states, where they’ve spent months and months campaigning and spending money,” Galia Slayen told The Hill.

“We have enormous respect for the Democratic primary process and many friends in those states, but we are running a broad-based, national campaign to beat Donald Trump and win in November.”

The candidates that are competing in Nevada are: Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.), Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Andrew Yang, Tom Steyer and Marianne Williamson. 

Nevada State Democratic Party Chairman William McCurdy II touted the “diverse slate of candidates.”

“As the first diverse early state and a key battleground state, Nevada plays a crucial role in the presidential nominating process, making our state a bellwether for the direction of the country. We’re beyond excited to have an incredible and diverse slate of candidates competing in our First in the West Caucus in 2020,” he said in the announcement. 

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, the only Latino candidate,  announced Thursday morning he was ending his campaign.

–This report was updated at 2:10 p.m.