Highlighting their shared stands on combatting gun violence, Congressman Ted Deutch is endorsing Mike Bloomberg for president.
Long before Bloomberg became a presidential candidate, one of his signature issues was gun violence, also a years-long central issue for Deutch — well before the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre in his district.
“While states across the country have taken steps to strengthen gun laws, America continues to fall victim to gun violence. We need to take immediate action before another mass tragedy unfolds, and tomorrow is too late to start. Mike Bloomberg will make gun safety a national priority and he has a plan that could actually prevent these atrocities from happening,” Deutch said in a statement.
He also called the former New York mayor “our country’s answer to fighting pressing issues like climate change and will use integrity and real leadership to restore America’s place in the global community.”
The Bloomberg campaign announced the endorsement Thursday.
The congressman will serve as a co-chairman of the United for Mike Leadership Council, a nationwide effort to build support for Bloomberg among Jewish voters. Before entering politics, Deutch was active in Jewish philanthropic efforts and in pro-Israel causes.
Deutch is chairman of the Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa and International Terrorism. Bloomberg said in a statement that the congressman would serve “as a vital foreign policy adviser for our campaign.”
Deutch represents a large swath of Broward County, along the coast north of Interstate 595 and central and western parts of the county north of Atlantic Boulevard. He also represents Boca Raton.
Bloomberg is taking an unconventional approach to his campaign for the Democratic nomination. He’s bypassing the traditional early four states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — in the nominating process, hoping he can become the consensus candidate to take up the mantle starting with Super Tuesday primaries on March 3. The Florida primary is March 17.
He’s spending heavily from his personal fortune to buy television advertising, which has helped him rise in public opinion polls. And he’s started rolling out endorsements.
Deutch becomes the 12th member of Congress to endorse Bloomberg, according to a tally from the website fivethirtyeight.com. He’s the second from Florida; in January, U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy of Winter Park endorsed him.
In the last two contested Democratic presidential primaries, in 2008 and 2016, Deutch was an early and prominent supporter of Hillary Clinton. “She would make an outstanding president,” Deutch said in 2014.
Last week, Coral Springs Mayor Scott Brook, whose city Deutch represents, endorsed Bloomberg.
Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com or @browardpolitics on Twitter.
