THE BETTING MARKETS ARE NOW WEIGHING HIS CHANCES
The betting markets are one way to get a gauge on what voters really think. Increasingly, they think Bloomberg is making inroads in the Democrat Party in Alaska and across the country.
The latest PredictIt.org charts show that while Bernie Sanders is still No. 1 with Alaska Democrats, Michael Bloomberg is all of a sudden worth placing a bet on.
On Jan. 25, the top betting pools were for Bernie Sanders – 68 cents, Joe Biden 27 cents, and Elizabeth Warren, 12 cents. At the bottom were Andrew Yang, Pete Buttigieg, and Amy Klobuchar.
Since Jan. 25, the mood has shifted. Now, Bernie Sanders contracts are selling for 73 cents, but Michael Bloomberg came out of nowhere and is in second place, at 18 cents for the Alaska Democrat Primary.
After the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire Primaries, the Democrats and the mainstream media are looking for who they can back as the person who will beat Donald Trump, and they’re nervous about the strength of Sanders.
The gamblers give them reason to take a look at Bloomberg . While Sanders is still far ahead of the pack and Bloomberg was not even on the list of wagered candidates in January, now, the national bets put Bloomberg far ahead of Biden and Buttigieg, while Elizabeth Warren is hardly registering for bets.
In Alaska, Sanders is still strong, followed by Bloomberg, who is clearly on the rise and who has been endorsed by Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz:
Bloomberg is spending heavily on his campaign. NBC News reports that the billionaire spent more than $1 million a day on average during the past two weeks on Facebook and Instagram ads.
The Nevada Democrat Caucus is held on Feb. 22, and early voting starts on Saturday, Feb. 15.
Polling from the Las Vegas Review-Journal shows Sanders is leading for the first time in the 2020 election cycle in Nevada.
According to the the poll, 25 percent of respondents picked Sanders, who identifies as a Democratic Socialist. The next highest preference is Biden at 18 percent.
